Great Britain: mandatory pay audits for employers guilty of discrimination

Mandatory… barring exceptions.  Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone announced it in Parliament on June 14, parallel to the government’s response to the consultation on labor law launched last year.  “An employment tribunal which finds that an employer has discriminated on grounds of sex in contractual or non-contractual pay will be obliged to order the employer to conduct a pay audit in cases where continuing discrimination is likely.”  However, she added that pay audits “would not be ordered if an audit has been completed in the last three years, the employer has transparent pay practices or the employer can show a good reason why it would not be useful.”  Besides, micro-businesses with 5 employees or less will not be subject to this provision.  Details on regarding the audits’ fulfillment and components will be discussed as part of a consultation the British government is going to launch later this year.
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t to this
provision. Details on regarding the audits’ fulfillment and components
will be discussed as part of a consultation the British government is going to
launch later this year.

Deterring role.
Introducing these mandatory audits aims to encourage employers to settle
conflicts before going to court. Senior employment law editor Stephen
Simpson said, “This would be an entirely new remedy for employment tribunals,
and comes at a time when the Government is planning to cut back tribunals’
p

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