Preferential pay protection: does UK law provide poorer protection to those discriminated against on grounds of protected characteristics other than gender?

Downie, Margaret

Abstract

UK law treats equal pay claims based on gender (brought under the equal pay provisions of Part 5 Chapter 3 of the Equality Act 2010) differently from equal pay claims based on other protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation (brought under the general discrimination provisions in Chapter 2 of that Act). This article considers the impact of the differences on each group of claimants. It concludes that the separate system of equal pay for the protected characteristic of sex ignores other inequalities of pay and that the inconsistent way the United Kingdom treats these issues leads to inequality among disadvantaged groups. It recommends that the United Kingdom should take a more consistent approach to pay gaps.

Citation

DOWNIE, M. 2019. Preferential pay protection: does UK law provide poorer protection to those discriminated against on grounds of protected characteristics other than gender? International journal of decrimination and the law [online], 19(1), pages 4-25. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229118817163

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 16, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 8, 2019
• Publication Date: Mar 31, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 17, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2019
• Journal: International journal of discrimination and the law
• Print ISSN: 1358-2291
• Electronic ISSN: 2047-9468
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 4-25
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229118817163
• Keywords: Equal pay; Pay gaps; Protected characteristics; Transparency; Remedies
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/3264