British men are still more powerful and better paid than their female counterparts in the workplace, two recent reports from the Equal Opportunities Commission confirm. Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? 2006,a survey of women in senior positions across the public and private sector, reveals that only a tenth (11%) of directors of FTSE 100 companies and a fifth (20%) of MPs are women.
Meanwhile the Equal Pay Review outlines a new approach to close the pay gap between men and women. Women working full-time earn nearly a fifth (17.1%) less an hour than their male counterparts. Only a third of large organisations have carried out an equal pay review, despite four years of cajoling by the government. The EOC says Britain’s pay and discrimination laws must be modernised to compel private sector employers to close the pay gap.
The EOC says that more high-quality, high-paid flexible and part-time work at all levels would empower working mothers and fathers. It has also called for a legal requirement for private sector employers to promote sex equality and eliminate sex discrimination. Contact EOC www.eoc.org.uk
Rise and fine
Wal-Mart owned Asda has been fined £850,000 for offering employees a pay rise to give up union rights. A UK employment tribunal found the company guilty of promising 340 distribution staff a 10% pay rise to give up a collective agreement negotiated by their union. The court ordered Asda to pay £2,500 to each employee. The retailer is likely to appeal and claims that the move was not an attempt to remove collective bargaining, but an attempt to bring employees’ terms in line with another depot nearby.
Meanwhile Wal-Mart has been ordered to pay $172m in compensation to workers who were refused lunch breaks. More than 100,000 employees in California were eligible for compensation after Wal-Mart broke a state law requiring employers to give staff an unpaid 30-minute lunch break if they worked over six hours. Wal-Mart disagreed with the findings. Contact Wal-Mart www.walmartstores.com
De-stress signals
Stress in the workplace is linked to diabetes and heart disease, a study by The British Medical Journal reveals. The study of 10,000 civil servants found a link between stress and metabolic syndrome, which involves obesity and high blood pressure. Factors such as social class, smoking, high alcohol consumption and lack of exercise were also taken into account, but it was discovered that there was a link between the amount of stress experienced in their job and the levels of metabolic syndrome symptoms, even when considering these other risk factors.
Meanwhile a report by Henderson Global Investors calls on companies to do more to tackle the causes of stress and disclose its costs. A survey of 22 leading companies including Cadbury Schweppes, HBOS, Unilever and Boots Group found that all companies recognised workplace stress as a risk to the workforce but almost a third had no mechanisms in place to assess this risk. Contact Henderson Global Investors www.henderson.com; British Medical Journal www.bmj.com
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