Equal pay advice for SMEs

03/09/2010

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being urged by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to check their pay systems.

SMEs need to make sure their systems adhere to the equal pay laws, which are due to become more stringent in October when the Equal Pay Act comes into force.

To help small firms comply with the amended regulations, the EHRC and BCC have published an easy guide to help employers.

David Frost, director general, of the BCC, said: "Businesses want to pay people fairly for the job that they do. This guidance should help smaller businesses analyse any pay gap and make any changes required by law.

"Taking action now to make pay systems transparent and fair should help businesses recruit the best talent to enable the private sector to drive economic recovery."

Recent research by the Chartered Management Institute and XpertHR revealed that UK businesses are still more than five decades away from paying the two sexes equally.

Posted by Emma Noble