Today, I destroyed another pair of perfectly good tights. This is a problem in the office that men don’t have. At least, not with the men I’ve worked with. Women make 17% less than men working full-time, and are more responsible for clothes. How fair is that? Tights don’t seem to last for five minutes. One of my male colleagues commented recently that he had owned the same pair of shoes for ten year and they still looked great. Many women complain about the fact that shoes don’t last more than a year before they look worn and the heels wear out. Shoe shops encourage us to spend money on new shoes (which I did on my way home from work on Thursday). We don’t need a ‘one-black suit, one-blue’ outfit to wear on alternate days. We can have a few shirts and a few ties that our relatives have bought.
I once worked with a man who never wore the exact same tie twice. He had an amazing selection and would not mind coming to work in July wearing a tie that played “Jingle Bells”. Except for a few men like him, men don’t need a large working wardrobe. I think I’ve worn the exact same jumper to work on three separate Fridays. This week, I’ll have another option.
Along with the wardrobe crisis that was pre-planned for Friday morning (Friday morning), the Gender Equality Duty will also be in force in Great Britain on Friday. All public authorities in England and Wales must show that they promote equality for all genders and that they have eliminated harassment and sexual discrimination. Are we really supposed to wait for equality laws to become law? No. Since 1970, we have had the Equal Pay Act. What does this Equal Pay Act do that the others don’t? It will supposedly bring about “real change” in how public bodies such as schools and universities deal with discrimination, but it doesn’t make equal pay reviews mandatory.
According to my understanding, there is a statutory obligation to eliminate unequal pay for equal labor. The Equal Opportunities Commission recommends that pay reviews be done. However, public bodies are not required to do them. It seems like there is a lot more paperwork required by public authorities to prove they are meeting the duties. This will not be of much benefit to service users who will likely just receive a leaflet explaining what the new regulations mean for them. I hope that I am wrong and that this new initiative makes some real progress in addressing the wage gap. However, I doubt that the reforms will include a clothing allowance for women to make up for the time they spend on tights every week. I will just have to be more cautious.