Gender pay gap confusion addressed

There is sometimes confusion over whether disparities in pay are automatically unfair.

A recent case has re-affirmed the principle that a disparity in pay between a man and a woman does not have to be justified unless it is established that the reason for the disparity is discriminatory.

Where there is a genuine material reason for the discrepancy (for instance, in one case it was between different groups of hospital workers with different bonus arrangements), the employer does not have to justify the difference. To make this distinction may be hard in practice however.