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Are Litigation & Collective Bargaining Complements or Substitutes for Achieving Gender Equality? A Study of the British Equal Pay Act

Author

Listed:
  • 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. Litigation may be a more potent agent for social change than some recent analyses, which stress the limits of the law in the face of organisational pressures to canalise and diffuse human rights, have suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Deakin & Sarah Fraser Butlin & Colm McLaughlin & Aleksandra Polanska, 2014. "Are Litigation & Collective Bargaining Complements or Substitutes for Achieving Gender Equality? A Study of the British Equal Pay Act," Working Papers wp466, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp466
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Linda Dickens, 2007. "The Road is Long: Thirty Years of Equality Legislation in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(3), pages 463-494, September.
    2. Kay Gilbert, 2012. "Promises and practices: job evaluation and equal pay forty years on!," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 137-151, March.
    3. Cécile Guillaume, 2015. "Understanding the variations of unions’ litigation strategies to promote equal pay: reflection on the British case," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(2), pages 363-379.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Equal pay; litigation strategies; social rights; collective bargaining;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process

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