The main focus of equal pay legislation is closing the gender pay gap.  But employees may claim for equal pay based on other grounds.  These include race, disability and age.

The main body responsible for equal pay is the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).  It works to:

• eliminate discrimination;
• reduce inequality;
• protect human rights; and 
• build good relations.

It brings together the work previously done by three Commissions: Equal Opportunities; Racial Equality; and Disability Rights.

The EHRC publishes guidance about how to design pay systems so that they are more likely to be fair.  Their advice does not carry the force of law.  Whether you choose to implement their guidance or not, the real acid test is, “Does your pay system discriminate in practice?”

The only way to answer this question is to conduct an Equal Pay Audit.

What is an Equal Pay Audit?

The EHRC has set out a five-step equal pay audit process:

1. Decide the scope of the audit;
2. Determine where people are doing equal work;
3. Collect and compare pay data;
4. Establish the causes and justification for significant pay gaps;
5. Develop an equal pay action plan.

Where most customers need our help is in organising and processing their data.  Our equal pay reports highlight where there are problems.  We can examine the data in more detail to show areas that need further analysis.  Our pay modelling service is a useful tool in developing and implementing an equal pay action plan.

What does equal pay mean?

There are three building blocks for examining equal pay:

• Like work
• Work rated as equivalent
• Work of equal value

Having a sound job evaluation scheme makes doing an equal pay audit easier and more robust.  Customers who do not have a scheme, or have a poorly maintained scheme, often ask us to do an audit for them.  In these cases we are able to use the PAYdata job evaluation scheme that underpins our salary surveys.  This might not provide a defence in law but it does provide a basis for spotting equal pay issues.

Like work is where people are doing the same or broadly similar jobs.  One way of looking at this is terms of generic roles.  So for example, within the finance area “like work” might include all accounting and auditing jobs at a given level.

Work rated as equivalent applies where a job evaluation scheme is in place.  All the jobs that are graded the same are compared together.  We can break this data down into locations or management areas to make it more useful.

Work of equal value applies where there is more than one job evaluation scheme or no job evaluation scheme in place.  Where there is more than one scheme the first step is to establish grades that have equal demands.  We can then compare jobs in the two schemes.  If there is no scheme an assessment still needs to made but the method used will depend on the circumstances.  The PAYdata job evaluation scheme that underpins our salary surveys can prove a useful way of doing this. 

How can I find out more?

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   to send an email to PAYdata or call us on 01733 364070