British public supports a legal requirement on employers to conduct pay audits, poll for Equal Pay Day finds

Fawcett Society press release, embargoed until 00.01, Friday 30th October 2009

• 85% of the public support mandatory pay audits
• Map of gender pay gap figures reveals wide regional variation

New polling conducted on behalf of the Fawcett Society (1) and UNISON (2) by Ipsos MORI reveals the overwhelming majority of the British public supports the introduction of a legal requirement on employers to conduct pay audits in order to stamp out the gender pay gap (3). The poll results (4), released to coincide with Equal Pay Day on 30th October (5), add to mounting pressure on the Government to toughen measures in the Equality Bill relating to pay inequality.

The polling reveals:

• 89% of women and 81% of men support the introduction of a legal requirement on employers to check they are paying female and male employees equally, and to take action if pay gaps are uncovered
• 48% of men and 32% of women believe that on the whole men and women receive equal pay for doing jobs of equal value. This suggests that they are unaware of the gender pay gap
• When they are told that “women are paid on average 23% less than men for doing jobs of equal value”, 94% of the public agree that it is important to eliminate the gender pay gap

The (mean) average gender pay gap in Great Britain – including full-time and part-time work – is 21.2%. Yet newly calculated figures (6), illustrated for the first time in a pay gap map (7), reveal wide regional variations in the size of the pay gap.

• The highest gender pay gap in the UK is found in West Somerset – at 52.7%. This contrasts starkly with areas such as Enfield, London (1.5%) and Hastings, East Sussex (7.4%)
•  The highest gender pay gap in Wales is 25.6% - found in Denbighshire / Sir Ddinbych
•  The highest gender pay gap in Scotland is 31.6% - found in the Shetland Islands
• The gender pay gap in Northern Ireland is 9.5%
  

Today representatives from Fawcett, UNISON and the National Union of Students will be delivering a giant cheque to Gordon Brown – symbolising women’s last pay cheque of the year (8). This is because the 17.1% full-time gender pay gap is the equivalent of men being paid all year while women work for free after 30th October. The petitioners will be calling on the Government to use the Equality Bill (9) to introduce a legal requirement for employers to conduct pay audits to prevent pay discrimination from occurring, and for permission for representative actions and hypothetical comparators to be used in discrimination claims so unfairly paid women can better obtain justice.

Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, commented:
“Today women will effectively receive their last pay cheque of the year. As a result of the 17.1% full-time gender pay gap, the 30th Of October marks the point in the year when women across Britain can be said to be working for free. We cannot afford to let this continue. Government must face the fact that equal pay law isn’t working. With one in three employment discrimination claims being for unequal pay, and cases taking up to ten years to complete, the tribunal system is at breaking point. On top of that, last year the gender pay gap even got wider.

“Our pay gap map illustrates that pay inequality is not only national scandal it’s also a local problem with some areas showing a pay gap of over 50%. But this is not a landscape the British people are willing to tolerate. The Equality Bill offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform equal pay law and stamp out the pay gap. We urge the Government to place a legal duty on employers to check for and rectify any gender pay gaps – a measure supported by the vast majority of the British public. Women must also be given greater access to justice by enabling representative actions and the use of hypothetical comparators in discrimination claims.

“Women were promised equal pay nearly forty years ago when the Equal Pay Act was passed. It’s time to finally make good on that pledge.”  

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, commented:
“Forty years after the Equal Pay Act, it is a disgrace that women still earn 17.1% less then men. And Britain has fallen to 78th in the world’s pay inequality league, behind such countries as Egypt, Malawi, Tajikistan and Malaysia. To speed up this glacial progress towards fairness for women, the Government must toughen up the Equality Bill. The bill is a once in a generation chance to make equal pay a reality for women, so it is vital that we get it right.
 
“UNISON wants to see the bill contain mandatory equal pay audits to expose employers who are not treating women fairly. This will not tackle the causes of unequal pay, but it will shine a spotlight on employers who are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to their treatment of women.
 
“Some women have to wait years, and some even die, in the time it takes to get justice from their employers on their pay, because they have to take action individually. Speeding up the employment tribunal process by allowing women to take group action would be a giant leap in the right direction. And removing artificial legal barriers by allowing women to identify theoretical male comparators in equal pay cases, would help more women get justice through the legal process.”


Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, will be available for interviews on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th October. To arrange an interview with Ceri call 020 7253 2598 or 07767 297812.

For further information and to arrange interviews for Friday 30th October please contact Kat Banyard, Campaigns Officer at the Fawcett Society, on 0207 253 2598 or 07775 855037.


Notes to editors
(1)    The Fawcett Society is the UK’s leading campaign for women’s rights: www.fawcettsociety.org.uk
(2)    UNISON is Britain’s largest public sector union with more than 1.3 million members. Over 70% of its members are women; many are low paid or work part time: www.unison.org.uk
(3)    Women working full-time are paid on average 17.1% (mean) less per hour than men working full time. Women working part-time are paid 36.6% (mean) less per hour than men working full-time. The combined part-time and full-time gender pay gap in Great Britain is 21.2% (mean). The pay gap is caused by discrimination (the single largest cause), a lack of flexible working and the undervaluation of traditional women’s work).
(4)    Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,055 British adults aged 16+ by telephone between 2nd and 4th October 2009. The interviewees consisted of 438 men and 617 women. Data is weighted to the profile of the population. The survey questions and results are downloadable from the link 'Fawcett/UNISON survey on Equal Pay' on the right.
(5)    Equal Pay Day is a national day of action on the gender pay gap coordinated by the Fawcett Society and UNISON. Equal Pay Day is held on 30th October because the full-time gender pay gap of 17.1% is the equivalent to men being paid all year while women work for free after 30th October. Activists and groups across the country will be marking the day with events and campaign actions. 
(6)    Geographical pay gap statistics were calculated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2008, Analysis by Place of Work by Local Authority, Table 7.6a. The figures were calculated using the mean hourly pay excluding overtime of women and men and represent full-time and part-time pay rates combined. Download the full list of regional pay gap statistics from the right of this page.
(8)    Download the pay gap map from the right of this page. 
(9)    A giant cheque will be handed in to 10 Downing Street at 11am on Friday 30th October – symbolizing women’s last pay cheque of the year. The individuals delivering the cheque will be Samantha Mangwana, Trustee of the Fawcett Society; Liane Venner, Head of Membership Participation Unit at UNISON; Olivia Bailey, NUS National Women’s Officer; and Kat Banyard, Campaigns Officer at the Fawcett Society.
(10)    The Equality Bill has been through Committee Stage in the House of Commons. A date for Report Stage has not yet been set. The proposals currently in the Bill relating to the pay gap have been strongly criticized by the Fawcett Society and UNISON for being weak and inadequate. Click here to read Fawcett and UNISON’s submission to the House of Commons Equality Bill Committee.