Equal pay 




The law on sex discrimination in pay and other contract terms is found in Part 5 (Work) Chapter 3 (Equality of Terms), Equality Act 2010 (EA 10). Equal pay law is heavily influenced by European Union (EU) law.




Broadly, the law says that a woman is entitled to be paid the same as a man (and vice versa) in the same employment doing equal work unless the employer can point to a genuine material explanation for the difference which is not itself based on gender/sex.




Equal pay law is about equal pay not fair pay. In other words, equal pay law will not stop two groups of workers being paid differently, unless the reason for the difference is gender/sex. 




Merely pointing to the fact that someone of a different gender earns more than you is not enough to establish an equal pay claim. The difference must be because of gender/sex.



Equal pay law aims to tackle pay inequality where women and men share the same or an associated employer, or where the pay of both men and women is controlled by a single source. It does little to help women in privatised low-paid sectors that are nearly all female, with no available male comparator, such as home care. Female careworkers employed by a local authority can claim pay equality with male local authority workers doing “work of equal value”, whereas a group of female careworkers who all work for the same private provider have no male employee doing “work of equal value” to compare themselves with, and so cannot take advantage of equal pay law to improve their pay. 


Although the aim of equal pay law is clear and straightforward — that women should be paid the same as men for doing the same work — the law is very complex. This section of the booklet provides only a brief explanation of core principles. Any member or rep dealing with an equal pay issue should seek advice as soon as possible from their trade union. 




The right to equal pay is available to both sexes, but in this section the text will, for simplicity, refer to claims by women.