[IER] Gender Pay Gap reporting: Too small a step in the right direction

Fri Apr 7 15:40:04 BST 2017

IER News Brief 07/04/17

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news brief

Friday 07th April 2017

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New Gender Pay Gap Reporting <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=2d5287a710&e=71131c031b>  regulations came in yesterday, requiring employers of 250 or more workers to report on inequalities of pay between women and men by 2018.

While this move towards greater transparency is a welcome step in the right direction, the legislation is let down by the glaring ommissions of any form of sanction against employers who break the law, and the non-requirement for employers to take action on the gender pay gap beyond reporting on it.

The Institute of Employment Rights argues that stronger trade union rights and the promotion of a union presence at both sectoral and enterprise levels across the economy is key to eliminating the pay gap, as well as other forms of inequality.

As the TUC points out <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=8cee87fb2b&e=71131c031b> , sectoral collective bargaining - a key proposal within the IER's Manifesto for Labour Law <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=9c3c76bc4a&e=71131c031b>  - could be a major factor in the closing of the pay gap, as it can be used to raise poor wages in female-dominated sectors such as care work.

In addition, our Manifesto calls for equality forums and equality representatives in each workplace, thereby designating resources specifically for the correction of inequality and discrimination.

Like many recent policies and proposals, we find that the Gender Pay Gap Reporting regulations are in danger of becoming tokenistic, lacking as they do the key components of action and enforcement.

We are currently seeing the fallout of a lack of enforcement of workers' rights through the multiple inquiries being conducted into the 'gig economy'. A report <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=091dd4642d&e=71131c031b>  from the Work and Pensions Committee this week shows that major firms Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo include clauses in their contracts that dissuade people classified by the companies as "self employed" from contesting their employment status at tribunal.

A tribunal has already found that Uber drivers should be legally defined as "workers", and therefore eligible for workers' rights, and a similar judgement is expected in the forthcoming case against Deliveroo. So far, the upshot of the investigations into the 'gig economy' appears to be that many firms are breaking employment law to exploit vulnerable workers, and too many are getting away with doing so.

In our Manifesto, we argue that workers should not be left to try and police their rights alone. The power differential between employers and workers is too great for individual workers to feel protected when standing up for their rights, and with employment tribunal fees presenting a barrier to access to justice, many workers are discouraged from bringing their cases.

Instead, we call for an independent Labour Inspectorate with the power to issue cease and desist notices to ensure employers abide by the law and any collective agreements they are party to; a free at the point of use tribunal system; and stronger trade union rights so that workers can stand up to unscrupulous employers collectively.

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 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=a13f5e796a&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story

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	Gender Pay Gap reporting in force
Gender Pay Gap reporting came into force yesterday (06 April 2017), requiring employers with 250 employees or more to publish figures on how much they pay female and male staff by April 2018.
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