Equal Pay

Friday 19th December 2014

The Independent has reported that yesterday the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill was overwhelmingly backed by MPs in a symbolic Commons vote. The bill was passed by 258 votes to eight. The seven MPs who voted against the bill were men and another male MP formally abstained.

The Labour-backed bill called for employers with more than 250 employees to be required to publish information showing the difference between pay for male and female employees.

Labour MP Sarah Champion (Rotherham) who brought the motion said  “Pay transparency will push companies to focus on the reasons why the pay gap still exists.  This isn’t about naming and shaming, about telling companies what to do or micromanaging them, it’s simply about changing the emphasis. Pay transparency places the responsibility on employers to be actively conscious of the law on equal pay and have policies to address the gap.”

However, as the measures were brought forward on a Ten Minute Rule motion they are unlikely to become law without Government backing, due to a lack of parliamentary time.

Click here to read the article.