Women's Work and Gender Pay Gap in the UK: Does Equal Pay Legislation Suffice?

This report analyses the impact of gender inequality on women's rights in the UK, evaluates the concept of gender inequality, and examines legislation at national and international levels that help curb the gender pay gap. It also discusses whether the equal pay legislative regime sufficiently protects women.

Contemporary Issues
in Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Task-................................................................................................................................................1
“Women’s work” and the gender pay gap in the UK. Do you think the equal pay legislative
regime sufficiently protects women?......................................................................................1
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................1
To analyse the impact of gender inequality on the rights of women...............................................1
To evaluate the concept of gender inequality.........................................................................1
To determine the impact of the gender pay gap on the rights of women in the UK..............2
To examine the legislation at national and the international level which helps in curbing the
gender pay gap in the UK.......................................................................................................4
Analysis............................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
References:.......................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The law can be defined as the set of rules that are applicable on every citizen of the
country. The basically maintains the peace and order in the society. It rules the conduct and the
behaviour of the individuals. The law is framed by the authorised authority such as the
parliament of the nation. The legislature is responsible to frame the laws for the country.
Moreover, in the legislature the bills are passed and debates on the subject matter of the bills are
executed in the legislative assembly. Then, after the discussion, the desired bill receives its
accent from the queen of the country(Brower and James, 2020). Then the, bill is converted into
the law. There are various types of laws such as the criminal law and the civil law. These laws
are equally applicable on both the men and women. This report would discuss about the gender
pay gap in the country. The gender pay gap is the difference in paying the amount for the same
work done by the male and the female in an organisation. This report would discuss about the
reasons, published data and case laws related to the gender pay gap in United Kingdom.
MAIN BODY
Task-
“Women’s work” and the gender pay gap in the UK. Do you think the equal pay legislative
regime sufficiently protects women?
Literature Review
To analyse the impact of gender inequality on the rights of women.
To evaluate the concept of gender inequality.
As per the Laura Bates in 2022, the women was not allowed to work during the last few
centuries in United Kingdom. But after the process of modernization, women were allowed to do
work but they are not paid equally as compare to the man in the country. The gender pay gap can
be defined as the differentiation in the amount to be paid to the male and the female in the
organisation for the same work done by them. The work is very similar of both the man and the
female but still the women are paid less as compare to the man in the country. There are various
legislations that is being formulated to decrease the gender pay gap in the United Kingdom. One
such regulation is the Equal Pay, 1967(Costa, Dias Joyce and Prodi, 2020). this act requires that
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all the women who are working in an organisation must be paid equally with comparison for the
payment made to the man in the organisation. This act mandates every employer to pay equally
to both the man and women working in the institution. It also provides that the women must not
be given very dangerous act which can be hazardous to health to work with in the organisation.
This legislation has aided women in various field. The women must also be paid relevantly and
adequate by the employer in all the condition. Moreover, it also provides that if the company is
in the financial crisis, then also the women is to be paid adequately and equally in the
organisation. Moreover, the right to the equal pay is applicable on all the types of set ups and
positions in an arrangement. It includes the regular worker, part time worker, apprentice,
permanent worker, trainee, etc. In addition to this, there is no situation that whether the worker
has worked overall time or part time in an arrangement, the wage must be paid equally to both
the male and female in the nation(Gibson, 2021).
There are three basic types of equal pay work as explained under the law of the nation.
Moreover, the equal pay is only applicable in the conditions under which the work done by the
female is similar to the work done by the man. If the female proves this, then the equal pay is
eligible in this condition. With reference to this, if the manger proves that the unequal treatment
is done for any materialistic reason that has some relevancy in it, then the unequal traetment can
be done by the employer of the company.
To determine the impact of the gender pay gap on the rights of women in the UK.
As per the author Sara Laschever in 2021, the rights of the women are infringed by the
difference in the pay to men and women in the organisation. The women are treated low as
compare to the men in the country. This has provided that there is the ill treatment with the
women in the work sector. The fundamental rights of the women are being exploited as per the
gender pay gap. The equality is the fundamental right of every citizen as per the constitution of
UK. This fundamental right of equality is violated by the gender pay gap in t5eh country. In
addition to this, the women area is unable to develop the desired skills in themselves as they have
very less opportunity in the working sector. The gender pay gap also directly7 effects the
financial status of the women. The financial status of the women is low as compare to the men in
the country. This is because they are paid low with respect to what is p[aid to the man in the
organisation. It has also resulted into the decrement in the literacy rate of the women in the
country. Moreover, the women has resulted in decrease of the mental pressure and stress on the
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minds of the people. The World Bank Group too outlines the economic barriers at the workplace
to the women. The case law of City of Edinburgh v Wilkinson explains about the economic
condition of the women at the work place with relate to their rights(Grout, 2020).
As the laws are framed for the gender equality in the country, the women rights are
protected under the various employment laws of UK. These employment laws includes the
Equality Act, 2010 , Employment's Rights Act 1996, enc of United Kingdom. These acts protects
the rights of the female employees of the company. The Equality Act, 2010 provides for the
equal rights to all the employees of the company. This act provides that all the employees are
equal in the eyes of the employer. There must be no discrimination made between the employees
of the company. It is also required that these employees must on be discriminated on the basis of
nine grounds. These nine grounds of discrimination as stated under this act is known as the
protective characteristics. The nine grounds are the sexual orientation, maternity, pregnancy, race
, caste, gender, nationality, etc. It provides that no employee could be treated unequally in the
organisation on the basis of these nine characteristics. It also provides that the women are also
paid equally as the amount paid to the men for the same work that is done under the same period
of time by both of them. It also specifies that there must be equal opportunities to be offered to
both the male and the female candidates who are eligible for that opportunity. This also provides
that no extra benefit is to be given to some employee on the basis of discrimination with the
other employees of the company. This act also states that there must be given equal treatment to
all the employees of the company. The case law of Asda Stores Ltd v Brierly and others
explains about the situation of equal treatment of worker in the organisation(Hussain Rizvi and
Sheikh, 2021).
The other act is the Minimum Wages Act, 1998 provides that the employer have to pay
minimum salary or wage as per the regulations of the country. It is framed only to protect the
wagers from their exploitation by the rich employers of the country. The rich employers used to
take benefit of the helpless workers and pays less to the workers. So, in order to stop this, this act
came into force by the legislature of UK. The minimum wage act has classified the wage in two
major types. These two types are the National minimum wage and national living wage. The
living wage is for the employees whose age is more than 23 years and the minimum wage is for
the workers whose age is less than 23 years. These rates of the wages are set by the government
on the yearly places. It changes on the regular basis every year by the parliament of the UK.
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To examine the legislation at national and the international level which helps in curbing the
gender pay gap in the UK.
According to Christine L. Exley in 2021, a report of World Bank Group 2020 has showed
that the situation of the women employees has been changed in the country. But, there is very
lack of changes in the laws of the UK with respect to women working at the work place. It
implies that more changes is to be done in the laws so as to formulate a better work environment
for the female staff of the institution in UK. The gender pay gap has been given more attention
from the last few years in UK. The legislation is to promote the empowerment of women in the
work sector of the country. Moreover, in April 2018 a legislation was passed by the parliament
of UK which states that it is compulsory for every employer to publish the gender pay gap report
who employs and recruits more than 250 employees in its organisation. It is applicable on all the
employers such as private, public or voluntary. This report is to be published public ally in the
country on the annual basis by the employer of the company(Leythienne and Ronkowski, 2018).
The negative aspects of gender gap can be seen as it has enabled the development of the country.
The development can be seen as now both the man and women in the country are working with
respect to equal pay. Now, the women can also financially help their families. They can also
afford their personal and family expenses on their own if they are paid equally for the work done
by them ion the institution. The gender pay gap report also requires six key points on which basis
the report is to be formulated by the employer of the organisation. It also states that such report
must be published and shown on the official website of the company. In addition to this, the
report can also be published on the governmental site of UK(Meara Pastore and Webster, 2020).
The case law of Birmingham city Council v Abdullah explains that the gender pay gap
report does not get affected by the equal pay audit. Hence, the employer does not need to identify
the department under which the women is working along with the post of the women. In addition
to this, the manger is not needed to publish the narrative report in the organisation with respect to
the gender pay gap as per the laws of the country. The publish report would give a detailed
explanation on the gender gap in the respective organisation. The trade unions has always made
the policies with relate to the gender pay gap in the UK. It has held various policies and
campaigns with relate to this. Further more, the current TUC Equality Audit provide for some of
the great examples of union political campaign with respect to the collective bargaining to the
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gender pay gap that is very thin in the state(Rainey and Melzer, 2021). The leader have already
discussed with the policies and procedure for the manager which results into the gender pay gap
is slandered in the organisation. On the contrary to this, the new Regulations must supply with
more adjuvant information. The gender pay gap is the change in the mean pay gap between all
males and the females at the work place of the institution. The gender pay gap that the majority
of the people know about is the divergence in the mean unit of time earnings of woman and man
for the full-time employees in the UK market. Moreover, the trade union movement has earlier
used this average. On the contrary to this, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) use to grade
higher to the median. The Factory act, 1833 also laid the provisions with respect to the equal
treatment to both the male and the female employees of the organisation. It also specifies the
healthy conditions that should be provided by the employer to the employees at the
workplace(Sánchez, Monedero Dencik and Edwards, 2020).
Analysis
The modifications in the working laws of the country has increased the involvement of
the women at the workplace. The more involvement of the women in work has also resulted in
the increment of the national economy of the United Kingdom in the past few years as per the
reports. It too has increased the global economy of the world. Moreover, these legislations has
the consequence that it has decreased the poverty rate in the country. This is because now the
women are also earning by working at the workplace. Earlier to this, the majority of the women
was dependent on the male members of the family such as husband, father or son. This has also
operated in the sustainable manner by using every human resource in the efficient and best
manner(Teixeira, et.al, 2020). This has also resulted in the increase in the literacy ratio of the
country. This is because the people does not invest money in the education of the girl child
because of the fact the mistreatment and unequal pay to the women in the working sector of the
economy. But after the execution of this act, it has resulted into the increase in the literacy ratio
and women working ratio in the country. The women now feel more confident about their work
in the organisation. But there are also laws that discriminates the women at the workplace.
These discriminatory laws hinders the growth and the development of the women in the country.
Hence, it can be analysed that the present laws are sufficient to protect the women at the
workplace. Moreover, the parliament can also enact new policies that with regard to decrease the
gender pay gap in the working sector of the nation(Walkey, Brown and Martin, 2022).
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Conclusion
The above report concludes about the status of the women in the working sector. This
report concludes about the concept of the gender pay gap in the country. It also explains about
the various legislations that are formed to reduce the gender gap in the country. The essay
outlines the role of the Equality Act 2010 and the Equal pay gap of United Kingdom. This report
also summarises that how the rights of the women are infringed by the inequality done at the
work place. This report also provides the recommendations that would decrease the gender pay
gap in the country. in every organisation that is being operated in the country. The report also
concludes about the minimum wage that is to be given by every manger to every employee of the
institution. This report also explains about the role of the employer while offering equal
opportunities to both the male and the women working in the institution. This report would also
conclude about the analysis that is done on the equal pay gap as per the present regulations of the
country.
Recommendations
The recommendations that is made by the above written discussion is that the
government can frame new policies that would equalise the status of man and woman in the
country. The government in order to achieve this can also do amendments in the present acts in
order to reduce the gender pay gap in the country. The new laws must do selection on the basis
of the qualifications and the eligibility of the employees irrespective of the status and the gender
of the candidate for the specified jobs. The policies must be framed that would enhance the skills
and opportunities for the female candidates in the working sector of the economy(Zoltán, 2020).
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References:
Books and Journals
Brower, A. and James, A., 2020. Research performance and age explain less than half of the
gender pay gap in New Zealand universities. PLoS One, 15(1), p.e0226392.
Costa Dias, M., Joyce, R. and Parodi, F., 2020. The gender pay gap in the UK: children and
experience in work. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 36(4), pp.855-881.
Gibson, C., 2021. The Legal Sector Is Yet to Deal With the Requirements of the Equality Act
2010. Sunderland Student Law Journal, 2, pp.20-43.
Grout, C., 2020. Discrimination and the Church of England: To What Extent does the Equality
Act 2010 Adequately Protect Church of England Clergy?. Oxford Journal of Law and
Religion, 9(3), pp.463-507.
Hussain, Z., Rizvi, L.J. and Sheikh, H., 2021. The Equality Act (2010)-pre-and post-pandemic
historic development on equality and discrimination issues for employers: review of
literature. International Journal of Law and Management.
Leythienne, D. and Ronkowski, P., 2018. A decomposition of the unadjusted gender pay gap
using Structure of Earnings Survey data. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the
European Union.
Meara, K., Pastore, F. and Webster, A., 2020. The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching
study. Journal of Population Economics, 33(1), pp.271-305.
Rainey, A. and Melzer, S.M., 2021. The organizational context of supervisory bullying:
Diversity/equity and work-family policies. Work and Occupations, 48(3), pp.285-319.
Sánchez-Monedero, J., Dencik, L. and Edwards, L., 2020, January. What does it mean
to'solve'the problem of discrimination in hiring? Social, technical and legal perspectives
from the UK on automated hiring systems. In Proceedings of the 2020 conference on
fairness, accountability, and transparency (pp. 458-468).
Teixeira, M.B.M., et.al , 2020. Women and work: film analysis of Most Beautiful Thing. Revista
de Gestão.
Walkey, C., Brown, P. and Martin, P., 2022. Breaking the Impasse: Rethinking Refugee
Integration through the Equality Act 2010 in the United Kingdom. Social Policy and
Society, pp.1-16.
Zoltán, L., 2020. Correction to: Beyond Formal Access: Organizational Context, Working From
Home, and Work–Family Conflict of Men and Women in European Workplaces. Social
Indicators Research, 151(2), pp.403-403.
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