Review Of Women's Pay And Employment Equality And Equal Rights In The Workplace.parts 1

 

 
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

by: Caroline Walker

In April 2001 the Government commissioned an independent review of women's pay and employment. The conclusions show that there have been great changes since the Equal Pay Act 1970 was introduced, but that there is still significant disparity between status and pay for men and women.

Women's earnings are estimated to be on average 18% less than men and this is despite the fact that women are overtaking men in their levels of education and qualifications. The government believes that this has a significant impact on the economy and without action, the education and skills of women will be a wasted resource.

Because of decreasing fertility rates and increasing life expectancy employers will have to look to under utilised groups within the labour market. This means finding new ways of recruiting, retaining and developing women. Employers are therefore encouraged to retain information on recruitment, career development paths, retention rates and reasons for leaving as well as information on pay as only by referring to this data will employers be able to see whether their workplace really is 'female friendly'. Very few employers believe that they directly discriminate against women (or that they discriminate at all) however by gathering this information they will have an objective picture of their workplace and whether they are, in reality, implementing policies and practices which negatively impact on women in indirect ways.

The key areas employers should be looking at are:

• The recruitment process – is it fair and objective. Are false assumptions made?
• Objective basis for promotion – are people selected on the basis that they work long hours? Is this a reasonable basis for promotion? This will negatively impact on women who usually have primary responsibility for childcare.
• Is there adequate training for women returning to work after maternity leave?
• What's the "culture" at work? Does it involve lots of out of hours drinking/days on the golf course/late night client entertaining?
• What about hidden pressures to work long hours/unsocial hours?

Another area the Kingsmill Report focused on was transparency in the workplace. Are salaries kept secret or are they a matter of public record?