Senior doctors back calls to fix flaws in equal pay bill

The union for senior doctors and dentists working in public hospitals is backing calls for the Government to address serious flaws with its proposed equal pay and pay equity legislation.

“This is too important to get wrong so the Government needs to fix the problems that have been identified in its Employment (Pay Equity and Equal Pay) Bill,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

The Council of Trade Unions has identified four main problems with the Bill: it creates onerous requirements for women to prove merit in order to initiate a pay equity claim, it imposes an unnecessary hierarchy of comparators, it extinguishes women’s ability to seek back pay in a pay equity claim, and the transitional provisions unfairly and retrospectively deal with current claims and new claims until the Bill becomes law.

‘In the event that we were to consider taking a pay equity claim on behalf of affected women members, the proposed law would be a big obstacle.

“The law needs to achieve a better process and pathway to equal pay so that women get paid fairly for the work they do,” says Ian Powell.