Weather Tonight: 4°c Partly Cloudy Night Morning: 8°c Cloudy

Business

Equality law ‘to shake up City pay’

Robert Lea
28 Apr 2009


The City is set for a massive pay shake-up and the end of the “cultural secrecy” surrounding bonuses following the Government's publication of its new Equality Bill.

That is the view of employment lawyers after the Bill controversially launched “equal pay audits” to ensure firms treat staff fairly and not leave themselves open to sex discrimination claims or other inequality suits.

Not only do women in the City get paid on average 17% less than male counterparts, their bonuses are nearly 50% lower than the payouts to men, figures show.

Julie Morris of employment lawyers Russell Jones & Walker said: “It is amazing the cultural secrecy has continued for so long given bonuses are a massive part of City pay. The new equal pay audits should introduce transparency allowing employees to check whether they are being paid fairly.”

Audits for firms with more than 250 staff will increase employment costs, the Institute of Directors argues. “This is a further example of unnecessary regulation at a time particularly when many businesses are struggling to survive,” said the IoD's Miles Templeman.

He added: “Directors take the equality agenda extremely seriously. This is a retrograde step that will do little to tackle the discrimination problem.”

Reader views (2)

 Add your view

A last gasp effort to get womens votes. However the women around me find this proposed legislation demeaning and ill thought.

- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, 28/04/2009 21:35
Report abuse

When all the self righteous huffing and puffing is done this is just another Nu Labor PC waste of time. Look at where the big bonuses are earned, Prop Trading Desks, front line M&A bankers, Hedge Funder partners, leading Fund Mangagers. Very few women in these jobs for two simple reasons. Firstly they are mega stress and huge committment jobs which take everything out of the people doing them. No time for "relationships", secondly talent. If women had these talents they would get the job and the pay or else they walk elsewhere, the human capital mobility factor in markets does what PC laws never will do. All these laws do is further stifle London as a centre for financial innovation and line the lawyers and civil,service jobsworths pockets. Utter waste of time.

- James Macleod Ritchie, Oyster Bay Cove, 28/04/2009 13:50
Report abuse


Add your comment

 

Terms and conditions Make text area bigger You have  characters left.

We welcome your opinions. This is a public forum. Libellous and abusive comments are not allowed. Please read our House Rules.

For information about privacy and cookies please read our Privacy Policy.


 

 

  • Relief for Sir Mervyn as inflation takes a tumble Osb and mervyn Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King has gained a major victory in his battle to bring down the spiralling cost of living as inflation...
  • Yell dives as print blow outstrips digital leap Yell Beleaguered Yellow Pages directories publisher Yell has seen its shares plunge as much as a quarter after a worse-than-expected slump in...
  • BHP and Rio bet on copper with mine expansion Rio Tinto The future is looking copper-coloured for BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto after the mining giants announced plans to invest $4.5 billion (£2.9...
  • Why saving may start to make sense again - just Piggy bank savings Long-suffering savers at last had some good news today when inflation fell below 4%, meaning there are now seven standard savings accounts...
  • City says timing wrong in Moody's UK rating threat Euro City economists have raised doubts over the timing of the threat by rating agency Moody's to slash the UK's AAA sovereign credit score,...
  • Hotel giant goes for Olympic gold as profits wow the City Intercontinental Hotels Hotelier InterContinental Hotels is looking to emerging markets and especially China to drive future growth
  • Bloomsbury takes a new passage to India Fashion book Publisher Bloomsbury is to set up a new business in India to take advantage of rapidly growing demand from the country's English-speaking...
  • Thai disaster floods Lloyd's with a bill for £1.4 billion Lloyd's of London Thailand's worst flooding in 50 years last October will cost the Lloyd's of London insurance market $2.2 billion (£1.4 billion), it has...
  • Bank of Japan increases stimulus to boost growth Japan Bank of Japan has added 10 trillion yen (£83 billion) to its 20 trillion yen pool of funds set aside for asset purchases in a surprise move
  • Brammer sees profits jump Box of tricks: DIY tools can be expensive to buy Industrial services group Brammer has posted a 41% jump in full-year pretax profit on strong demand
  •  
    Market Roundup
    TUESDAY UPDATE

    Valentine's massacre as City dumps Hampson

    No one likes getting rejected on Valentine's Day

    More