The Equal Pay Task Force has seen employers and unions working together for the first time on equal pay for women. The fact of this historic union adds further validity to the reports findings. Namely, that the two acts have failed to eradicate the pay gap. The five reasons they outline for the pay gap still being in place are obvious yet somehow chilling. They blame confusing official statistics that compound problems by using inconsistent definitions.
Employers are just as much to blame for lack of understanding on the subject of the pay gap.
However,only a third of firms questioned had analysed pay information in their workplace to compare women s and men s rates of pay. Employers only move onto a more detailed review if Stage one establishes that there is inequality between women and men s pay,' it says. Following the closure of the Government's consultation on improvements to employment tribunals on 18th February 2001, the report also recommends an overhaul of the tribunal system. The plan is to change the burden of proof from the offended employee to the employer. Those employers and trade unions who realise there is a problem do not know how to tackle it,' the report states.