Equality cases boost

Solicitors and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) have given a cautious welcome to plans to speed up employment tribunals' processing of equal pay cases.A Department of Education and Employment consultation paper released this week aims to streamline the process of dealing with claims by cutting down on red tape.Proposals include helping tribunals to decide cases more quickly by calling in an assessor to give expert advice, simplifying claims procedures where a group of women have essentially the same case, and only hearing evidence from one independent expert appointed by the tribunal.Fraser Whitehead, a member of the Law Society's employment law committee, said: 'This government initiative is a great start, as the law here is currently far too complex and expensive to resolve disputes easily.'Jane Mann, chairwoman of the Employment Lawyers Association, said: 'These changes are very welcome, as the system for dealing with equal pay claims is cumbersome, complicated and notorious for taking years.' However, she expressed 'doubts' as to whether the reforms would 'get to the real root of the pay imbalance'.The EOC welcomed the paper - which is the first strand of a five-part government action plan to tackle the 18% gender pay difference - but said the changes would not solve the problem of equal pay.

EOC chair Julie Mellor said the main problem is that 'women's work is seen as intrinsically less valuable' than men's.Victoria MacCallum