Before then, women were frequently on different pay scales to their male counterparts. Today it is unusual to find women being paid lower base wages than men doing identical jobs, but statistics show that equal pay is still not a reality. The equal pay issues of the new millennium are more complex. Earning the same base rate of pay for doing the same job is only part of the story. Research has shown men earn almost twice much in discretionary pay as women.
Overtime is another factor.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that women might be less inclined to work overtime due to family responsibilities, but there s a danger in employers assuming that female staff do not want to work beyond scheduled hours. Generally discrimination over pay is not explicit, and frequently it is not intentional. Men and women do not always do the same type of work. Both had similar training, experience and base rates of pay. Sex discrimination is more likely to be indirect - hidden by practices which appear to treat men and women in the same way, but which actually work to disadvantage one gender.