Let human rights body fine firms over equal pay – MPs

BRITAIN’S human rights watchdog should wield its ‘unique’ powers and take firms to court if women are not paid the same as men, MPs said yesterday.

It should not fear investigating and fining firms and ordering them to change their ways over discrimination, they said.

An influential committee of MPs called for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to be revamped into an equality police force.

And they severely criticised the quango for past lapses, saying it was ‘deeply concerning’ the EHRC shied away from ‘challenging’ large firms.

They singled the EHRC out for its failure to act against unequal pay at the BBC for 18 months after the first allegations that the Corporation was paying women less than men.

The push for an overhaul follows Boris Johnson’s promises to protect and extend the legal rights of workers. The Commons women and equalities committee said it is no longer enough to ask employees who say they suffered from prejudice at work to take cases to tribunals or courts by themselves.

A report by MPs said companies are not afraid of the watchdog, which ‘should significantly increase the volume, transparency and publicity of its enforcement work by making greater use of its unique enforcement powers’.

Former Tory Cabinet minister Maria Miller, chairman of the committee, said: ‘Creating a society where people are not treated differently because of the colour of their skin, sex, gender, sexuality or religion is central to British values.’

‘Shied away from challenges’