Jo Keddie quoted in the Financial Times on rising equal pay claims in the retail sector
The FT article outlines the persistent issue of equal pay and the efforts being made to address it, particularly in the retail industry. Despite numerous initiatives and legal frameworks over the decades, disparities still exist. Employees, predominantly women who are most commonly impacted by these inequalities, are increasingly willing to challenge employers on pay.
Jo, Partner and Head of our Employment and Partnerships team, noted that in the last two years she has ‘done more equal pay claims than in the last decade.’
Recent court rulings have seen store workers from major retailers such as ASDA, win their claims of unequal pay. The financial stakes for retailers are high with estimates that the total bill for the sector could potentially exceed £8 billion.
One way for employers to pre-empt equal pay claims is to conduct an audit of their workforce, to spot any discrepancies and address them. However, Jo commented that companies that conduct equal pay audits ‘don’t always like their results.’ This causes problems with transparency and whether companies leave a paper trail when conducting equal pay audits.
You can read the full article here.
Subcribe to news and viewsIn the last two years I’ve done more equal pay claims than in the last decade.
