Businesses ignoring equal pay reviews
Gap still exists. Over the last four years, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has promoted the need to carry out equal pay reviews to ensure financial parity between men and women in the workplace. However, its latest research shows that little is being done, particularly amongst small businesses.
• Overall, 82% of organisations have reported no previous, current or future plans to carry out an EPR.
• Only 39% of private sector companies have carried one out.
• Only 34% of large organisations completed an EPR in 2005.
• Women working full-time earn 17.1% less per hour than men.
Risks of doing nothing. Whilst many businesses, particularly SMEs, tend to wait until a claim is made against them, do be aware that a successful equal pay claim could be backdated for up to six years. For this reason, consider carrying out a review to see if there are any pay differences for similar positions that you can’t justify. Also look at positions where male and female staff carry out work of equal value. Be sure that you can justify any discrepancies, due to greater responsibilities, anti-social hours or technical knowledge etc.
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