Now be SEEN to pay fair

Feb 28 2006 By Helen Logan Evening Gazette

"a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. These are some words I read recently. They were to do with people working in under-developed countries and were in information promoting the Fairtrade initiative.

That scheme is all about making sure the people who grow produce or make things get a fair price for what they do.

Now it turns out that those words ring true closer to home.

For it transpires, in spite of anti-discrimination laws having been in place for 30 years, many women are losing out when it comes to pay.

A Government-appointed commission this week made 40 recommendations aimed at boosting the pay and career prospects of women.

The report said full-time women earned an average of 87p for every £1 earned by men.

It is wrong that this should be happening in this day and age.

It should not matter what gender, creed, colour or race you are. If you are doing the same work as someone else then you both should be getting the same basic rate of pay.

Obviously many companies then add bonus or merit money into the equation. But again this should not be based on whether a worker is male or female, but should be allied to their performance. And the way it is worked out should be transparent for others to see.

But the commission's report lacks teeth, as its suggestions are not going to be compulsory.

Unions and campaign groups want companies to be compelled to carry out equal pay audits to make sure that women are not being paid less than men.

Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said the report had "deliberately missed the point," adding that without compulsory pay audits, women will have to wait until "Doomsday" to earn the same as men.