Employment law action ‘is necessary to prevent unequal pay’

Posted 03/02/2010

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to support the right of women workers to receive equal pay via employment law changes.

Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, has urged parliament to build on “encouraging” indicators which suggest that female staff are now able to command higher salaries than in the past.

The comments refer to recent research from the National Equalities Panel, which showed that middle-income females in their thirties and fifties have seen their average pay packets increase more than any other group since 1997.

He stated that unions will continue to fight against discrimination in the workplace and hailed the potential impact of the upcoming Equality Bill.

Mr Barber said the employment law change is vital to ensuring that “more is done for the many women who are still on low pay, to reflect their skills and the important work that they do”.

According to research from the Fawcett Society last year, an average gender-based pay gap of 21.2 per cent still exists between men and women in the UK.