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ARTICLE · 22 NOVEMBER 2021

Equal Pay Day – Can We Move Forward If We Keep Looking Back?

Brahams Dutt Badrick French LLP
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Today, 18 November 2021, has been declared by the Fawcett Society as "Equal Pay Day", i.e. the point in the year at which women on average stop earning, relative to men, because of the gender pay gap.

United KingdomEmployment and HR
Polly Rodway
Polly Rodway
Blair Wassman
Blair Wassman
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Today, 18 November 2021, has been declared by the Fawcett Society as “Equal Pay Day”, i.e. the point in the year at which women on average stop earning, relative to men, because of the gender pay gap.  Despite increasing awareness of the issue, the gender pay gap increased in 2021 from 14.9% to 15.4% and remains a key concern in gender inequality. To address the issue, this year the Fawcett Society is running a campaign to #EndSalaryHistory.

In this article, we explain the concept of equal pay and the gender pay gap, consider this campaign, and outline some practical steps employees and employers can take to address the issue.

The law

It has been over 50 years since the first legislation was introduced to address inequality in pay between men and women in the form of the Equal Pay Act 1970. The principle of equal pay for equal work for men and women is now regulated by the Equality Act 2010.

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