Theresa May is today launching a campaign for equal pay for women. The campaign is supported by TV presenter June Sarpong who recently launched the website ‘Politics & the City’.
‘Theresa May for Equal Pay’ will launch today as a group on Facebook and aims to generate greater awareness about the gender pay gap which still affects women today. Despite the Government passing many pieces of legislation to try and stamp out the pay gap, men still get paid 17.2 per cent more than women, meaning that the average woman will lose or forgo a massive £300,000 over her lifetime. This pay gap does not just exist in low paid part-time jobs but also with women working in full-time jobs who earn less than men.
The campaign aims to tackle the pay gap by not just passing a law, but by raising awareness of the gender pay gap, especially amongst young people. The Equal Pay and Flexible Working Bill will be launched in the House of Lords at Christmas, and the hope is to gain cross party support for the Bill.
STANDARD LETTER TO SEND TO MPs
Dear…………………….MP
Equal Pay and Flexible Working Act 2008
I am writing to you today to ask for your assistance as my MP to help stamp out the gender pay gap – an issue I feel strongly about.
It is the 21st century and despite a lot of legislation being passed, a large gender pay gap still exists. Men still get paid 17.2 per cent more than women meaning that the average woman will lose or forgo a massive £300,000 over her lifetime. This pay gap does not only exist in the lower paid job sectors – full-time women earn less than full-time men in every occupation.
I think that this pay gap is unacceptable and want to help to stamp it out once and for all. The Equal Pay and Flexible Working Bill (HL) will be presented to the House of Lords in December. The Bill contains three tough measures designed to tackle the pay gap: compulsory pay audits for employers who are found guilty of pay discrimination at an employment tribunal, a ‘reasonableness test’ for the material factor defence used by employers at employment tribunals; and, an extension of flexible working to all parents of children aged 18 or younger.
This Bill will be introduced by the Conservative Party. However for the Bill to become law it needs the support of all political parties. The gender pay gap is not just a political issue – it is so much more than that. Therefore as my MP I would be grateful if you could forward my email to the Leader of your Party in the House of Lords asking them and their colleagues to give their support to the Equal Pay and Flexible Working Bill (HL).
I would also appreciate it if you could write to me confirming that you will support the Bill, should it reach the House of Commons. Thank you for reading this email and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely…
