RCN issues cost warning on Equality Bill

The Equality Bill, published last month, is due to move into Public Bill Committee stage in the House of Commons on 2 June 2009.

If successful, the Equality Bill will streamline all discrimination legislation from 1970 onwards into one act of Parliament.

However although the RCN commends the majority of the bill, it said it is still concerned about some of its content

The RCN welcomes the assertion that public bodies with over 150 employees and private sectors with over 250 employees must report on the difference in pay between their male and female workers.

However, approximately 50% of private healthcare employers have less than 250 staff and so the gender pay gap will remain unregulated in these areas, the RCN warned

And the execution of this legislation will come at a substantial cost to any employer and the RCN warned this must not affect patient care and staffing levels.

‘It is vital to the RCN and its members that this cost has no knock-on affect to the level of patient care provided and staffing levels. The Government must guarantee that future NHS budgets will reflect any increase in costs resulting from this legislation and will not be drawn from current allocated funds,’ the document warned.

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