Research
reveals more than half of workers plan to use the new equal pay questionnaires
to find out how much their colleagues earn.
A
survey of 1,500 employees, by recruitment consultant Joslin Rowe, finds that 51
per cent would use the Equal Pay Questionnaires – being introduced as part of
the Employment Bill on 6 April 2003 – to request pay information on a
comparable worker of the opposite sex.
The
questionnaires are voluntary, but employers that don’t respond to requests are
likely to be penalised at employment tribunals.
However,
the majority of respondents are not convinced that the questionnaires will make
a difference to the way they are paid.
Three-quarters
of those surveyed believe that requesting key information from their employer
to establish whether or not they are receiving equal pay will prove to be “more
hassle than it is worth.”
The
study also reveals that 61 per cent of workers believe salary discrepancies
exist between men and women at their firm.
Workers
were also asked whether they thought the workplace is less prejudiced now than
five years ago.
The
majority of employees (53 per cent) believe that firms are just as prejudiced
in 2003, with 41 per cent agreeing that many organisations are just “talking
the talk,” while changing very little.
Nearly
a third agreed the workplace was less prejudiced, with 20 per cent adding that
firms are taking issues seriously.
Kris
Sasitharan, manager of HR recruitment at Joslin Rowe said: “With nearly two-thirds
of workers agreeing that they would be unlikely to interview with a firm that
had received negative press over discrimination claims, organisations clearly
need to do more to ensure all their staff are treated equally and colleagues at
the same level are paid the same.
“Worryingly,
many of our respondents still feel there is a lack of transparency within the
remuneration process and that concepts such as the equal pay questionnaire will
do little to remedy this.”
