Topic on Discrimination - 'Critically analyse pay related gender Essay

Topic on Discrimination - 'Critically analyse pay related gender inequalities between men and women in the workplace under the E - Essay Example Management of gender diversity has a great importance in modern workplaces. Since the Industrial Revolution, women have suffered a lot due to gender bias and have not been able to receive their rightful share. Their suffering has come both in terms of discriminatory behaviour and through unjust pay scales. It was only a matter of time for this issue of inequality to be given attention at higher levels i.e. the Government.1 Forces were set in motion in the early 2000s when pay audits were rendered obligatory for the public sector employers while they remained voluntary for the private sector employers.2 The involvement of public sector has been somewhat fortuitous as there have been many developments in equal pay litigations. The UK Parliament passed a law called Equal Pay Act 1970 according to which men and women were not to be treated in a less favourable manner in terms of pay and work conditions. This Act was merged in the Equality Act 2010. Despite the enactment of a law and othe r obligations, there continue to be some significant gender pay gaps. In 2010, the Office for National Statistics recorded that the difference between the median hourly pay of full-time males and females was 10.2 percent while the gap for all employees was 19.8 per cent. An even wider gap was observed in the private sector where it was 19.8 percent for the median hourly pay of full-time males and females and 27.5 percent for all employees3. It is unfair to hold the employers responsible for this gap entirely. There are also certain other factors that contribute to the generation of this gap. There are particular social structures in which there is an automatic occupational segregation, the work of women is undervalued and the family responsibilities are divided unequally. Yet, these factors are only a partial explanation of this gap. There continues to be a significant amount of discriminatory behaviour by the employers which is why the law is continuing to evolve through case law. While focussing on equal pay, it is to be kept in mind that ‘equal pay’ does not address any grievances that arise among the members of similar sex. It addresses all the terms and conditions of the contract of employment. It is not just that men and women, who hold similar positions in a workplace, must be paid equally; it further delves deeper to ensure that men and women are paid equally for the similar amount of work. Equality Act 2010 was brought in force in 2010 and it replaced Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 20064. This law has been achieved by following a series of steps. There have been a number of cases of direct discrimination that lead to the formulation of principles regarding discrimination. In order to determine whether a woman’s te rms of employment are not less favourable than a man’s, the courts consider three requirements: i. Like Work This concept has a very wide view. It is defined as ‘work of the same or a broadly similar nature’. This concept is there so that the courts and Employment Tribunals take good care to determine that the work done by men and women has an overall similarity for which they are being paid equally.