The human touch

The new Government, according to Minister for Equalities, Lynne Featherstone, is committed to a bold and ambitious approach to tackling gender inequality, including promoting equal pay.  

According to the Office for National Statistics, the median full-time gender pay gap for full-time employees last year was 12.2 per cent. But what are the real reasons behind unequal pay?

If the reason for the gender pay gap was sex discrimination on the part of employers, you would expect employers to discriminate consistently. They don’t. In fact, 16 and 17 year-old females actually earn an average 12.6 per cent more than males of that age group and the gap reaches its peak for those in their forties before declining again.  This could suggest employers just discriminate against women with children. Surely it is much more about the choices available to and made by women? More...

That’s all that Her Majesty said about employment law in the Queen’s Speech.  At least we can be relieved that this is all that she said.  And we can take some comfort that the Number 10 website says that the government wants to take time to consult fully with business and families, to identify the best way to extend flexible working.

The Government argues that flexible working is good for business: it enables employers to draw on a wider pool of skills and talents in the workforce, improve recruitment and retention rates, and increase staff morale and productivity.  The member survey we conducted last year (Scanning the Horizon, EEF/CPH Consulting Survey 2009) suggests however that 30 per cent of our members are yet to be convinced it brings any benefits at all. More...