The
Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has launched an equal pay kit to outline
the five steps employers need to follow to check they are not short-changing
women.
Julie
Mellor, ECO chairwoman, challenged employers to lead the way on equal pay by
making a commitment to an equal pay review: "The gap between women’s and
men’s pay still stands at 18 per cent, and progress towards closing that gap is
incredibly slow. I hope the availability of this kit will kick-start a real
increase in the pace of change.
"We
know the vast majority of employers don’t deliberately discriminate against
women. EOC research found that 9 per cent were confident they paid fairly, but
few had checked their pay system for bias."
The
five steps set out in the kit are:
Step
1: Deciding the scope of the review and identifying the information
required
Step
2: Determining where men and women are doing equal work
Step
3: Collecting pay data to identify equal pay gaps
Step
4: Establishing the causes of any significant pay gaps and assessing the
reasons for these
Step
5: Developing an equal pay action plan
The
kit includes a brief description of each step and how to carry it out. More
detailed guidance on the various aspects of a review will be set out in
supporting guidance notes.
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