23 January 2006

The end of last year saw the 30th anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) and the Equal Pay Act (EPA), yet should we be celebrating or commiserating?

Discrimination and the law surrounding it has evolved considerably thanks to the SDA and EPA (the “Acts”), none more so than in the areas the Acts have set out to provide guidance on.

According to statistics released by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in their “Then and Now” 30 Years Fact Sheet:

• 29% women working full time were paid less than men undertaking similar work in 1975 compared to the reduced gap of 17% in 2005
• In 1975 the part-time gender gap was 42% and this has remained moderately unchanged 30 years later, standing at 38%
• There has been an increase of a third in the number of women entering into the workplace and they now make up almost 50%
• Approximately two thirds of pregnant women work, with around 70% of them returning to work in the first year after pregnancy. In comparison, just 50% worked in the late 1970’s and only 24% of them returned to work within the first year of giving birth
• Two thirds of women with children work today in relation to just under half in the 1970’s
• 33.1% of managers are women in today’s workforce, whereas only 2% of managers were women prior to the SDA
• Today 14.4% of directors are women, compared to just 1% in 1974

A disappointing statistic is that 30,000 women are still being dismissed every year for being pregnant. A positive statistic since the SDA is that new fathers spend 2 hours a day on child related activities, whereas 30 years ago this was just 15 minutes, showing that the SDA has not only benefited women but men too.

It can be said that the SDA has contributed to establishing many things, which are today taken for granted, such as pregnancy rights. It has done a great deal in minimising discrimination within the workforce. Nevertheless, certain inequalities highlighted by the EOC in their reports, such as part-time gender pay gap and the ever increasing but relatively low numbers of female managers and directors, suggest that the SDA and EPA are now outdated and are in need of reform.

Jenny Watson, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission stated: “A new generation of laws are needed so that the responsibility is shared between individuals, employers and government” (Press Release: 30 years on, the Sex Discrimination Act has helped to improve women’s and men’s lives).

Even though women make up half the workforce, they do not represent half of the top positions within their professions. What is astounding is that the UK lies 54th in the world behind Afghanistan and Rwanda for the ratio of women to men in National Politics. Another ranking of 20 out of 26 European countries for the number of women in the judiciary, being behind Hungary and Latvia, reiterates the point that discrimination still exists amongst certain work sectors.

A particular area to be looked at is how society has progressed and the impact that this has had both on everyday life and legal principles. Social attitudes have drastically changed since the implementation of the SDA, and these should be taken into account, as the workplace has simply not caught up.

A major change currently being proposed for public sector employers under the Equality Bill will see a duty to promote equality and eliminate discrimination between women and men, both as an employer and as a public sector provider. It is thought that this step forward is likely to come into effect in 2007. However, no proposal is being considered for private sector providers. The EOC believes that this should not be the case and is calling for a similar requirement in this modernisation of the law on the private sector. The EOC would like to see a diagnostic “equality check” to identify if a pay gap exists and the subsequent action taken (Sex and Power: Who runs Britain? 2006).

The key to a successful business is to unlock all doors prohibiting employees (men along with women) from career progression due to gender, and to reassess all policies ahead of key changes in the future. Fulfilling employees’ potential regardless of their sex will benefit the workforce, which will ultimately spill over into productivity and create a winning business formula.