Received from: Unite
Despite progress in workplace equality, pay gaps remain a harsh reality. Women are still paid less than men for the same roles. BAEM workers are often underpaid compared to their white colleagues. Disabled workers face both physical and economic barriers, and LGBT+ workers still encounter wage discrimination and bias, often hidden beneath the surface.
Equal pay is not just a matter of fairness as it’s perpetuating discrimination not to address it.
While employers must commit to full pay transparency, fair promotion practices, and regular mandatory audits, the Labour government, under the Plan to Make Work Pay proposals, must go further when expanding equal pay legislation.
We call on the TUC to support:
i. increasing the scope of the current proposals on race and disability pay gaps from employers with over 250 employees to those of 50 and over
ii. legislating for compulsory action plans, alongside pay audits as reporting the issues alone do not address pay inequality, clearly demonstrated by the persistent gender pay gap
iii. ensuring that any enforcement unit has effective statutory powers to demand employers comply as too often the remedy falls on workers to pursue lengthy tribunal claims
iv. including LGBT+ pay audits and action plans into future legislation as research confirms this must be included in any action on pay inequality
v. continue to commit to include outsourced workers as a comparator, regardless of length of service, as contracting out has too often been used by employers to avoid paying equal pay.
Unite