'Legislation is crucial' to ensure equality at work

04 February 2010

Legislation such as the equality bill 'is crucial' to improving women's pay at work in comparison to their male colleagues, it has been claimed.

Categories: Equality & diversity

By Nick Howard

Women in their 30s and 50s who are in full-time employment are, on average, seeing higher weekly earnings than a year ago, according to a recent report by the National Equalities Panel.

Commenting on the results, Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said that the findings were "encouraging" and praised unions, saying they had worked long and hard for equality in the workplace.

He added: "Legislation like the equality bill is crucial, if we are to ensure that more is done for the many women who are still on low pay, to reflect their skills and the important work that they do."

According to a Fawcett Society report, the mean pay gap between genders is 21.2%, but there are large geographical variations. The report also revealed that the British public would be overwhelmingly in favour of the introduction of a legal requirement for employers to be more transparent about gender pay gaps by conducting pay audits.ADNFCR-1459-ID-19596931-ADNFCR

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