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Are litigation and collective bargaining complements or substitutes for achieving gender equality? A study of the British Equal Pay Act

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  • Simon Deakin
  • Sarah Fraser Butlin
  • Colm McLaughlin
  • Aleksandra Polanska

Abstract

We present a socio-legal case study of the recent equal pay litigation wave in Britain, which saw an unprecedented increase in the number of claims, triggered in part by the entry of no-win, no-fee law firms into this part of the legal services market. Although the rise in litigation led to greater adversarialism in pay bargaining, litigation and collective bargaining mostly operated as complementary mechanisms in advancing an equality agenda. Although there are limits to the effectiveness of law-driven strategies in the face of organisational pressures to canalise and diffuse human rights, litigation may be a more potent force for social change than some recent accounts have suggested.

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  • Simon Deakin & Sarah Fraser Butlin & Colm McLaughlin & Aleksandra Polanska, 2015. "Are litigation and collective bargaining complements or substitutes for achieving gender equality? A study of the British Equal Pay Act," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(2), pages 381-403.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:39:y:2015:i:2:p:381-403.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/bev006
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Verdin, Rachel & O'Reilly, Jacqueline, 2021. "A gender agenda for the future of work in a digital age of pandemics: Jobs, skills and contracts," WSI Studies 24, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    2. Mathew Johnson & Jill Rubery & Matthew Egan, 2021. "Raising the bar? The impact of the UNISON ethical care campaign in UK domiciliary care," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(3), pages 367-382, August.
    3. Rolf, Steven & O'Reilly, Jacqueline & Meryon, Marc, 2022. "Towards privatized social and employment protections in the platform economy? Evidence from the UK courier sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    4. Martins, Pedro S. & Saraiva, Joana, 2020. "Assessing the legal value added of collective bargaining agreements," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Victor E Sojo & Melissa A Wheeler & Michelle K Ryan, 2023. "Accelerating gender and sexuality inclusion in organisations: Introduction to the special issue and academic agenda," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 48(4), pages 683-692, November.
    6. Ivana Zilic & Helen LaVan, 2020. "Arbitration of accommodation in US workplaces: employee, stakeholder and human resources characteristics," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 454-473, September.
    7. Hazel Conley & Margaret Page, 2018. "The Good, the Not So Good and the Ugly: Gender Equality, Equal Pay and Austerity in English Local Government," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(4), pages 789-805, August.
    8. Susan Milner & Hélène Demilly & Sophie Pochic, 2019. "Bargained Equality: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Workplace Gender Equality Agreements and Plans in France," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 275-301, June.
    9. Combet, Benita & Oesch, Daniel, 2019. "The Gender Wage Gap Opens Long before Motherhood. Panel Evidence on Early Careers in Switzerland," SocArXiv sazxj, Center for Open Science.

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