Creating a fairer Britain
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) aims to champion equality and human rights for all, work to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and build good relations, and ensure that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society. It has responsibility for seven equality strands - age, disability, race or ethnicity, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation and transgender- as well as human rights.
The previous government had introduced into the Equality Act 2000, a reserve power enabling the government at some future date, but no earlier than 2013, to require private and voluntary sector employers employing more than 250 employees to measure and publish information on the gender pay gaps within their organisations. While we do not know whether or not the Coalition Government intends to regulate, the EHRC will continue to promote greater transparency in pay systems, thereby enabling women to know whether or not their employer has a gender pay gap.
In January 2010, the EHRC published its proposals for a set of metrics and has subsequently produced guidance for employers (these have not yet been published). The EHRC's proposals were based on several new sources of evidence. These included a research report, Gender pay gap reporting survey 2009, which showed that 43 per cent of organisations had conducted or were conducting some sort of analysis of pay gaps. The report also drew on a secondary analysis by the EHRC of the 2008 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). Published by the Office for National Statistics, ASHE is the main official source of earnings data in private, public and voluntary sector organisations provided by employers. This secondary analysis revealed hitherto unknown aspects of the gender pay gap which the EHRC is keen to explore further. Other recent EHRC research has included a research review of pay gaps across the equality strands and a secondary analysis of pay gaps across the equality areas, using the ONS's Labour Force Survey (LFS).
The aim of this research is to build on this earlier work on the gender pay gap in the private and voluntary sectors by focusing on the earnings of female and male employees aged 40 or over in these sectors. The research will also examine the nature of female and male employment in these sectors, again focusing on those aged 40 and over. It is anticipated that much (female) employment will be part-time, a particular emphasis on part-time work is also required.
The 'Open' Procedure is being used.
Interested parties are invited to request the full tender pack from Procurement by emailing tenders@equalityhumanrights.com .