Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

Economic equality for women requires many components.' A significant component is equal pay for women in the workforce. Britain's accession into the European Economic Community ("EEC") has made the component of equal pay, as well as the goal of economic equality, more obtainable. The EEC, in the interest of promoting economic integration in Europe, 2 has issued numerous directives 3 which have expressly or impliedly influenced women's participation in the workforce.

Specifically, Directive 75/117/EEC5 requires all member states, including Britain, to adopt a new standard to measure the enforcement of the right to equal pay. This standard is called "equal pay for work of equal value."

This comment has a dual purpose. Its first purpose is to introduce a particular legislative model to the reader, namely Britain's, and to provide an object lesson to all countries, especially the member states of the EEC, who believe that they have succeeded in implementing a positive enforcement mechanism for the achievement of equal pay for all workers. Its second purpose is to provide a guideline for establishing the necessary components for achieving economic equality for women, to all countries who ascribe to the belief that all workers, most notably women, deserve economic justice.

There are three sections to this comment. The first section provides a working definition of equal pay, traces the historical development of this concept, and discusses how this concept was incorporated into Britain's equal pay legislation. This section then describes Britain's model for attaining equal pay, with primary focus on the Equal Pay (Amendment) Regulations 1983 ("1983 Regulations"); the reform legislation that incorporates the standard of "equal pay for work of equal value."

After setting forth Britain's model, the next section discusses the legislative shortcomings of the 1983 Regulations as they pertain to Britain's obligation to the EEC and to its advancement towards economic equality for women. A feminist perspective will be incorporated into this section as well as into the third section.

The last section will discuss the proper direction for reform from both within the legislative framework and outside the legislative framework. Of particular importance in this section is the discussion of the need to add the policy of positive action to the legislative goal of equal pay and the need to develop a model containing additional policies that go beyond equal pay and focus on upgrading women's position in society.

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