Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 1971)

1. Remuneration gap. The Committee notes from the 2005 annual earnings survey produced by the Office of National Statistics that women’s average hourly pay (excluding overtime) was 17.2 per cent less than men’s. The report also indicates that the pay gap between men and women remained smaller in the public sector than in the private sector (9.8 per cent and 22.5 per cent respectively in 2003). The Committee notes that since the Equal Pay Act became operational in 1975, the pay gap has only moderately declined by 10.7 per cent. It notes, in this regard, the concern expressed by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) regarding the latest pay gap figures, which it considers to be grim. According to information provided by the EOC, the Act has now reached the limits of its usefulness and radical new action is required to protect another generation of women from the injustice of unequal pay.

2. Measures to address the existing remuneration gap. Further to the above, the Committee notes that the Government is of the opinion that new policies on shortening pay ranges, developing transparent pay progression systems and addressing pay issues in recruitment and promotion will have an immediate impact on further reducing the relatively small pay gap in the civil service. With regard to the private sector, the Committee notes that the Government continues to favour voluntary pay reviews and has taken measures aimed at further reducing the pay gap such as the development of an equal pay review kit for employers and an equal pay questionnaire procedure for employees, the creation of a statutory right to request flexible working time and the adoption of new regulations to streamline equal pay tribunal cases. However, the Committee understands from the EOC that two-thirds of employers have no plans to review their pay systems to see if they deliver equal pay. The EOC is of the view that the Government must take more proactive steps to address this persistent problem through the introduction of a duty on employers to promote gender equality and eliminate sex discrimination in the workplace. While welcoming the measures taken by the Government, the Committee nevertheless remains concerned about the slow progress in reducing the pay gap between men and women. It asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the measurable impact of these initiatives for reducing pay inequalities between men and women, particularly in the private sector, and whether, in light of the EOC’s conclusions, it is considering more proactive measures to address the persistent pay gap. Noting also that government departments and agencies expect the civil service policies to take between three and five years to mature fully, the Committee asks the Government to provide up-to-date information on the implementation and impact of these policies along with information on subsequent equal pay reviews undertaken in the public sector.

3. Part-time and flexible work. The Committee notes that the hourly wage gap between part-time female workers and full-time male workers remains significant (38.5 per cent in 2005). In this regard, the Committee notes that the Government commissioned a research project to look at the characteristics of the pay gap with respect to part-time work, comparing the characteristics of part-time work in the United Kingdom with other European Union countries. It also notes that the EOC published an interim report based on its own investigations into flexible and part-time work entitled "Part-time is no crime - so why the penalty?" The Committee notes from this report that over the past 30 years of equal pay legislation, the percentage by which part-time female workers earn less per hour than full-time working men has not meaningfully changed (from 41.6 per cent in 1975 to 38.5 per cent in 2005). The report points out that 78 per cent of part-time workers are women, who suffer the most in terms of the effect on earnings and earning power and that the unequal use of flexible work creates a two-tier system (the "mummy track"), which reinforces the pay gap between men and women. Noting the interim recommendations from the EOC investigation, the Committee asks the Government to indicate what additional measures it intends to take to address this persistent part-time pay gap. It further asks the Government to keep it informed as to the ongoing investigations of the EOC into part-time work, and to provide information on the key findings and follow-up measures from its research into the characteristics of the part-time pay gap in the context of the European Union.

The Committee is raising related and other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.