NATFHE today condemned as 'naive and weak' the report of the Women and Work Commission which concluded that the gender pay gap is worse in Britain than anywhere in Europe. The union said it was particularly disappointed, given the new gender duties to soon be placed upon employers, that the report had failed to propose anything which would correct widespread unfairness in pay throughout colleges and universities in the UK .
Roger Kline, head of the universities department at NATFHE said:
" It is not simply differential pay for the same work which denies women fair rewards but the fact that men and women are too often on different contracts doing the same work. Part-time and hourly paid contracts are a key cause of pay discrimination in colleges and universities and nothing in this weak report will change this. It does not propose a single new legal requirement and naively ignores that most employers will not respond to mere pleas. I deplore the suggestion that equal pay audits should not be compulsory.
" Unions should attack this discrimination. NATFHE will be using the Fixed Term Employees regulations, equal pay legislation and the recent Employment Tribunal decision in Birch versus Leeds Metropolitan University to eliminate the gender pay gap in further and higher education. "
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