• Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
Call us now: 01383 272000
Thornber Employment Law
  • Home
  • Employers
    • Disciplinary & Grievance
    • Harassment & Discrimination
    • Unfair Dismissal
    • Redundancy
    • Performance and Absence Management
    • Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) Regulations
    • Industrial Action and Strikes
    • Termination Negotiations
    • Settlement Agreements
    • Agency and Atypical Working
    • Pensions
    • Employment Tribunals
    • Fees
  • Individuals
    • Disciplinary & Grievance
    • Harassment & Discrimination
    • Unfair Dismissal
    • Redundancy
    • Employment Tribunals
    • Settlement Agreements
    • Restrictive Covenants
    • Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) Regulations
    • Fees
  • HR Support
    • Employment Contract & Staff Handbook Drafting
    • Employment Law Training for HR Professionals in Scotland
    • Disciplinary & Grievance
    • Performance and Absence Management
    • Investigations
    • Fees
  • Settlement Agreements
  • Latest News
    • Top Tips
      • How do I deal with short term absence?
      • How do I dismiss an employee?
  • What Clients Say
  • About
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

Women continue to earn less than men – what should be done?

April 1, 2016/in news /by Benjamin Thornber

Women continue to earn less than men – what should be done?

In the public sector, a lot has been done to rectify unequal pay over the last 10 years.  It has been compulsory to compare workers who do not do the same job but which are deemed to amount to work of equal value.  For example, cleaners who are predominantly women have been paid less than bin workers who are almost exclusively men.

This has led to hundreds of thousands of claims for unequal back pay, and hence enormous bills to Councils and the NHS which ultimately tax payers have had to pay.  From here on, however, there should be pay reasonable pay equality in the public sector.

That said, this measure alone will not necessarily mean more women will rise to the senior positions in the public sector.  Nor is it inevitable that women in the top jobs will be paid as much as the top men in different, but comparable, public sector organisations.

And in the private sector, it is a different story entirely with unequal pay still rife.  The government’s proposal to require larger companies to report on their own gender pay gap is therefore a step in the right direction, but is unlikely to tackle the problem on its own.

Strangely enough, there is little consensus on what measures should be taken.  At senior and board level, some argue for quotas whilst others are rigidly opposed.  There are those who maintain that there are too many structural obstacles in the way, such as: the prevalence of zero hour contracts; the lack of universal, easily accessible and affordable child care; failure to embrace flexible working for women returning from maternity leave.

Interestingly, there is some research which indicates that diversity training programmes lead to a drop in the likelihood that under-represented groups becoming managers.  Is this because, from a gender standpoint, this type of training leads to more self-evaluation and women are more self-critical than men?  Food for thought for the HR industry and employment lawyers.

Perhaps it comes down to our unconscious biases about the roles which men and women should play in society: for example, many of us still associate women with families and men with careers.  In the same way, it is said that women do not generally fight for more pay as they have a greater inclination to want to be liked and not be difficult.  Common sense dictates there must be something in these stereotypes.

It would be facile though to say that any one measure would resolve the situation.  The answer surely lies in practical changes which companies can implement, eg on recruitment and selection practices, pay negotiations, performance evaluation and teamwork.  The trick is knowing which of these have a positive impact and those which, despite best intentions, may make matters worse.

The big downside to these kind of measures, however, is that they are likely to be beyond the reach and cost of most SMEs.  So what is the one measure which all companies can implement, no matter how small?  This is simply to be open and transparent about staff pay so that everyone can measure themselves: if you do not know what other people are paid, how can you complain?

But this works both ways: deep down most people – men and women – do not want others to know how much they are paid.  This suggests that the solution lies in a fundamental shift in thinking by everyone, not just companies.  Otherwise, I suspect unequal pay will be with us for many years to come.

(c) Ben Thornber, Thornber Employment Law Ltd

Related

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://thornberlaw.dns-systems.net/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design-3-300x105.png 0 0 Benjamin Thornber https://thornberlaw.dns-systems.net/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design-3-300x105.png Benjamin Thornber2016-04-01 08:27:222016-04-01 08:27:22Women continue to earn less than men – what should be done?

Enquire

Areas of expertise

  • Agency and Atypical Working
  • Ben’s Top Tips for HR matters
    • How do I deal with short term absence?
    • How do I dismiss an employee?
  • Disciplinary & Grievance
  • Employment Contract & Staff Handbook Drafting
  • Employment Law & HR Support Fees
  • Employment Law for Employers & Business
  • Employment Law for Individuals
  • Employment Law Training for HR Professionals in Scotland
  • Employment Tribunals
  • Harassment & Discrimination
  • HR Support
  • Industrial Action and Strikes
  • Investigations
  • Pensions
  • Performance and Absence Management
  • Redundancy
  • Restrictive Covenants
  • Settlement Agreements
  • Termination Negotiations
  • Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) Regulations
  • Unfair Dismissal

Contact:

01383 27 2000

info@thornberhrlaw.co.uk

© Copyright Thornber Employment Law Ltd

Ben Thornber is a solicitor with a current practising certificate.  He meets the requirements of a being `qualified lawyer’ and `relevant adviser’ for the purposes of advising on settlement agreements.  Any legal and HR advice Ben Thornber provides through Thornber HR Law is covered by a contract of insurance.  However, Thornber Employment Law Ltd (t/a Thornber HR Law) is not a law firm and is not regulated by the Law Society of England and Wales or the Law Society of Scotland

Privacy Policy

Call us on:

Dundee – 01382 339071
Dunfermline – 01383 272000
Edinburgh – 0131 644 3445
Glenrothes – 01592 373991
Grangemouth – 01324 289105
Kirkcaldy – 01592 373991
Livingston – 01506 309771
Perth – 01738 310565
Stirling – 01786 608668

Ben Thornber is a professional and competent employment lawyer. Having worked with Ben for only 3 months, he has quickly gained a grasp of how we work and what our business needs are.

Emma NivenManaging Director, Loch Leven’s Larder

You were highly recommended to us, with regards to our re-draft of our Contract of Employment and Handbook. From the start to the finish you were very helpful, friendly, efficient and professional. We will not hesitate in recommending Thornber HR Law to anyone. Thanks once again for a first class job.

Wendy Turnbull

Ben, many thanks for all your help with our employment contract review. For a change it was really good dealing with a real expert who knows exactly what he is talking about.

David Shuster Managing Director, Managed IT Experts

I can safely say that Ben stands out head and shoulders above anything that even the largest Blue Chip companies can throw at you.

Philip OldhamCEO Lyle and Scott Ltd

The service provided by Ben was exceptional from the initial meeting to completion. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending and using Ben Thornber HR Law.

Alexander Cruickshank, Director AMC Removals Managing Director, Managed IT Experts
The advice we receive from Thornber HR Law is straight forward, legally sound and commercially viable. Ben is always available and very easy to understand and communicate with.
Tommy BrodieSenior Agent, NFU Mutual Insurance

I would highly recommend Ben and Thornber HR Law as a company for businesses both large and small

Neil AlexanderDirector, Eclipse-IP

The service that you gave was timely, needed and most importantly ensured piece of mind

John Somerville JM Services

Related

Forth Road Closure Should Prompt a Rethink The Next Generation – What Will Work Look Like?
Scroll to top

This website uses cookies to improve user experience

OKLearn More

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Accept settingsHide notification only