Preferential pay protection: Does UK law provide poorer protection to those discriminated against on grounds of protected characteristics other than gender?

Abstract

UK law treats equal pay claims based on gender (brought under the equal pay provisions of Part 5 Chapter 3 of the Equality Act 2010) differently from equal pay claims based on other protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation (brought under the general discrimination provisions in Chapter 2 of that Act). This article considers the impact of the differences on each group of claimants. It concludes that the separate system of equal pay for the protected characteristic of sex ignores other inequalities of pay and that the inconsistent way the United Kingdom treats these issues leads to inequality among disadvantaged groups. It recommends that the United Kingdom should take a more consistent approach to pay gaps.