Equal Pay or Gender Bias? What Do You Think?

The Cagle Post

It is 'Equal Pay Day' today in the UK.

To me, being of a simplistic mindset, 'Equal Pay' means earning/being paid the same wage/salary for the same work.

I find it puzzling that the whole issue of equal pay seems to have been taken over by gender equality.

The Government website tells us :

"It is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of their sex, religion, disability or certain other personal characteristics." Follow the link to check it out.

So, we are supposed to all be equal. If that's the case, the differences in pay have more to do with skill levels, availability to work and the sort of work you do rather than your gender.

Women often have skills in fields that are more difficult to quantify. They are often restricted in their availability to work. They often choose to work in lower paid jobs because of those limiting conditions.

When I worked in the motor trade, I learnt my job in the parts department at a Vauxhall Dealership garage. I became highly skilled in interpreting customer's spare parts requirements and delivering them. I moved on to Mercedes Benz for the greater challenge of more complicated vehicles.

At MBUK, I inherited the desk of the previous job holder. In that desk, I found his letter of employment showing he was paid substantially more than I was. When I challenged this, I was told by the management that he had more experience than me. However, I was able to prove that I, in fact, had more experience from my years at the Vauxhall garage.

I was immediately given a pay rise making me the higher paid!

CartoonStock

I leave you to draw your own conclusions, but I think I may well have been a victim of gender bias as women are still the minority in the motor trade.

Surely equal pay should apply to everyone regardless of gender.

What do you think? Have you ever been a victim of unfair pay?

Thank you for viewing!