Trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced the membership and terms of reference of the Women and Work Commission, which will make recommendations to the Government on tackling the pay gap between men and women.
She said: “With more women in work than ever before, and more people working flexibly, workplace culture is changing fast.
“But with women’s pay almost 20 per cent behind men’s – and double that for part-time work – women are rightly demanding a better deal in the workplace.”
The creation of the Women and Work Commission, as revealed by Personnel Today back in July, will investigate the pay gap over the next 12 months, meeting monthly, before reporting to the Prime Minister.
The gender pay gap currently stands at 18 per cent for full-time workers. Although the gap has closed gradually over the past 30 years since the 1975 Equal Pay Act, the Government has decided to investigate the underlying factors which mean that average pay for women is lower than that for men.
Members of the Commission:
– Chair: Baroness Margaret Prosser of Battersea
– Sarah Anderson (chief executive, the Mayday Group)
– Chris Banks (chair of National Learning and Skills Council)
– Kay Carberry (assistant general secretary, TUC)
– Naaz Coker (chair, refugee council and chair, St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust)
– Debbie Coulter (deputy general secretary, GMB)
– John Cridland (deputy director-general, CBI)
– John Hannett (general secretary, Usdaw)
– Sally Hopson (retail and managing director (North Division), Asda)
– Adeeba Malik (deputy chief executive of Quest for Economic Development),
– Stella Manzie (chief executive, Coventry City Council),
– Julie Mellor (chair, Equal Opportunities Commission),
– Christine Ray (HR director, The Rank Group),
– Ruth Silver (principal, Lewisham College),
– Liz Snape (head of policy development, Unison).
