We have women and men doing similar jobs, but the men have to do some heavy lifting. Can we use that to justify different pay scales?
Possibly, but it would mean having to rely on the “material difference” defence if a claim is made under the Equal Pay Act, and that can be difficult. It would principally depend on whether heavy lifting was actually (as opposed to theoretically) necessary to getting the job done, and whether extra payments were required to get people who could do it. If you are making higher payments to people who could (but in fact don’t) do heavy lifting, and who are wholly or mostly male, you are potentially vulnerable to claims under the Equal Pay Act. And even if you can justify what you are doing under the Equal Pay Act, you might – depending on your recruitment practices – be vulnerable to charges of discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act. Take legal advice.
Related Questions
- We have women and men doing similar jobs, but the men have to do some heavy lifting. Can we use that to justify different pay scales?
- We have women and men doing the same job, but the women mostly work part time. Surely that justifies different pay scales?
- Should women and men receive equal pay for different jobs?
