§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to tackle the gender inequality in salaries for(a) full time and (b) part time employees in the engineering sector. [63662]
§ Ms HewittThe Government are already taking a number of steps to further reduce the pay gap between men and women which currently stands at 18 per cent., for full-time workers, down from the figure of 20 per cent. in 1997.
As well as the introduction of the national minimum wage and the provisions in the Employment Bill, the Fair Pay Champions and Castle Awards are helping to spread good practice on equal pay. All Government Departments are committed to carrying out a pay review by March 2003 and we are also taking forward recommendations from the Kingsmill Report.
80 per cent. of Britain's 6 million part-time workers are women. The Part-Time Workers Regulations, introduced in July 2000, ensure that part-timers are no longer treated as second class citizens. The regulations establish a minimum standard of fairness for part-timers so that they 472W can no longer be treated less favourably than the full-timers they work alongside. The regulations cover conditions such as pay, pensions, training and holidays.
The Equal Opportunities Commission is developing practical tools for employers wishing to investigate their pay systems such as an Equal Pay Review model; a Code of Practice, Guidance Notes and an Opportunity Now/Equal Pay Forum.
I have no separate proposals to tackle gender inequality in salaries for professionals in the engineering sector where figures in the year 2000 showed that the gender pay gap was also 18 per cent.