Pay reviews 'will not help firms'
Mar 17 2009
The Equality and Human Rights Commission's (EHRC's) plans to advise the government to shelve compulsory equal pay reviews have been welcomed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Commenting ahead of the publication of the equality bill next month, the EHRC says the UK's equal pay laws are 'no longer fit for purpose' and need reforming to encourage firms to voluntarily improve their record.
The organisation claims that compulsory pay reviews run the risk of placing unnecessary litigation burdens on businesses already struggling in the adverse economic climate.
Charles Cotton, reward adviser at the CIPD, describes the EHRC's recommendations as 'pragmatic' and suggests changes in equality will occur through efforts to remove 'entrenched attitudes' in companies.
He adds: 'Enforcing equal pay audits could easily end up creating a box-ticking exercise that does little to tackle the broad and deep-seated causes of gender pay inequality.'
Cotton also claims one of the major causes of pay inequality is 'occupational segregation', or men and women being encouraged to take different career paths, and says the introduction of compulsory pay reviews is unlikely to tackle this problem.
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