Equal Pay - Opportunity Now's Position

Opportunity Now is fully committed to helping employers close their gender pay gaps, which remain at an alarming level almost 40 years after the Equal Pay Act. Ending the wide discrepancy between male and female pay is not just good for women, it is good for business. When an organisation demonstrates that it values a fair and diverse workforce, it maximises the innovation, productivity and loyalty a wider talent pool can bring.

Opportunity Now would, however, like to issue a clear word of warning: the Government must listen to the voice of employers if their proposals to ask companies to publicly report on their pay gaps by 2013 are to be effective.

Regularly putting pay data in the public domain can indeed encourage employers to remunerate men and women fairly. After all, many business people will tell you that what gets measured, gets done.

But as with many seemingly progressive initiatives, the devil in the Government’s suggestions is in the detail. Opportunity Now strongly opposes proposals for a single figure measure for pay gaps. This approach would be grossly simplistic, and is proving overwhelmingly unpopular with our members, the very employers Government hopes will voluntarily engage in the scheme.

Single figure pay gap measures would undoubtedly lead to league tables of data which is at best crude and at worst misleading. These league tables could drive women away from working for certain companies and certain industries, rather than widening the playing field in which women want to work.

We should be supporting every employer in making progress on their pay gaps as quickly as possible, rather than driving women from one organisation to another, which would exaggerate the problem in many places.

A single figure measure would also fail to convey the effects of mergers, acquisitions and adverse economic conditions, all of which can distort the appearance of a companies pay gap, masking any true progress towards fair and transparent pay which may have been made.

Opportunity Now would prefer to see a flexible approach which allows employers to breakdown pay data by employee grade, so that they can clearly see where in the business pay gaps are narrowing and where they are widening, and therefore take steps to address this. Businesses must also be allowed to provide a narrative context around their figures, so that the public has a rounded and meaningful picture of a company’s approach to pay equity.

We would also ask the Government to bear in mind that publicly reporting on pay data is just one of a number of measures that are required in order to tackle gender pay gaps. To achieve a holistic approach towards equal pay, we would advise employers to review their systems for recruitment, performance management and promotion; to re-examine the nature of their pay processes, including looking at any bonuses or rewards; to benchmark their policies against competitors in their field; and to consider a full pay audit, taking any necessary corrective actions.

As the UK’s leading employer forum promoting gender equality, Opportunity Now plays an active role in championing the closure of the pay gap, and in providing businesses with the tools to do so quickly, effectively and with long-term results. If this legislation goes through in form employers will find meaningful and workable, Opportunity Now would be keen to offer the Government our expertise in developing toolkits and guidance which would encourage the maximum number of organisations to publicly report on their pay gaps voluntarily.

Done well, the proposals in the Single Equality Bill will help, not hinder, the ability of businesses to attract talented women into all levels of their workforce.

Done badly, however, this legislation could prove burdensome, disruptive and ultimately counterproductive, making businesses less, not more, able to quicken the course towards diverse, equal and inclusive workplaces.

To get it right, the Government must listen to the voice of employers, and Opportunity Now is proud that our members have come forward to influence this legislation for the better.”

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