ABSTRACT
The Equal Pay Act (EqPA) 1970 enables a woman to claim equality with a man where she is engaged on ‘like work’,1 work ‘rated as equivalent’ under a job evaluation scheme2 and, since 1983, where her work is of equal value with that of her male comparator.3 The employer has a defence where the difference in pay is ‘genuinely due to a material factor which is not the difference of sex’.4 The Act applies to employees, the self-employed5 and the Crown service.6 In addition, both the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and the European Commission have issued Codes of Practice on equal pay.7
