Legal Eagles

Thirty odd years ago, the government set up the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to promote, monitor and enforce two pieces of legislation:

• The Sex Discrimination Act
• The Equal Pay Act

The EOC’s motto is: Women. Men. Different. Equal.

Although there have been lots of changes over the years, most of them positive, the fact remains that further change is still needed. Even though women and men, regardless of their employment contracts, have a legal right to equal pay for doing the same job or work of equal value:

• The gender divide has not gone away

The EOC has a really interesting website (www.eoc.org.uk) containing lots of useful information. The facts and figures it produces can really make you think. What they do say is ‘If women and men had equal chances in life, things would be different. We’re working on it …..’

Discrimination still occurs, and sometimes it is not immediately obvious. For example:

• if a woman is appointed on a lower grade (with, perhaps, a different job title) than a man doing the same work
• if a woman on maternity leave misses out on a bonus payment or a pay rise which a male colleague has got
• if an employer rewards a male colleague for being prepared to work long hours at short notice, while a woman with childcare responsibilities cannot do likewise.

Remember that men can be discriminated against as well, and have the same legal rights as women. You can contact the EOC at any time for advice and they can provide assistance with individual cases.

Please note that the EOC was replaced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 1 October 2007.