Equalities Bill
Government Ministers have taken to their airwaves today to announce the arrival of a new Equalities Bill - which will encourage employers to conduct equal pay audits on a voluntary basis.
In plain language, this means that employers will be asked to highlight any differences in pay between male and female jobs.
Pay differences that have been around for almost 40 years now - despite the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1970.
Much too little, much too late - you might be tempted to say - after all the government has been in power for 12 long years - since 1997, in fact, the same year that the UK Single Status Agreement was introduced.
Yet only now is the government getting round to thinking about 'asking' employers, very politely - if they wouldn't mind sharing such information with their employees and the general public.
"Just where have they been for the past 12 years?" - is the obvious question.
Much of the comment focuses on the private sector - but if anything the public sector is a better example of large employers behaving furtively - completely ignoring their duty to act openly and transparently.
Big councils kept their female employees in the dark for years - about the hidden bonus payments to traditional male jobs - and in some areas today the pay of certain jobs is still a closely guarded secret.
But the real scandal is that this has been taking place - right under the noses of the trade unions.
In plain language, this means that employers will be asked to highlight any differences in pay between male and female jobs.
Pay differences that have been around for almost 40 years now - despite the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1970.
Much too little, much too late - you might be tempted to say - after all the government has been in power for 12 long years - since 1997, in fact, the same year that the UK Single Status Agreement was introduced.
Yet only now is the government getting round to thinking about 'asking' employers, very politely - if they wouldn't mind sharing such information with their employees and the general public.
"Just where have they been for the past 12 years?" - is the obvious question.
Much of the comment focuses on the private sector - but if anything the public sector is a better example of large employers behaving furtively - completely ignoring their duty to act openly and transparently.
Big councils kept their female employees in the dark for years - about the hidden bonus payments to traditional male jobs - and in some areas today the pay of certain jobs is still a closely guarded secret.
But the real scandal is that this has been taking place - right under the noses of the trade unions.
