I agree. But I wonder if an unfortunate side-effect of the Equal Pay Act is making this more difficult, and is an incentive to privatise services. NHS staff are subject to equal pay, so cleaners (often women) are given pay the same as comparable workers (maybe porters); significantly above minimum wage. But if a service is privatised cleaners no longer have to be paid similar to comparable NHS workers, so it can be done cheaper.

This happened I believe in the recent Freemantle fiasco. Barnet Council gave (mainly women) care home workers equal pay under a Single Status Agreement, but soon afterwards transfered the care homes to Freemantle (a charity). A few years later, when finances are squeezed, Freemantle are imposing new T&Cs that effectively reverse the equal pay improvements the council made, despite the fact the council still fund the service through Freemantle.

Privatisation of services seem an easy way for employers to avoid equal pay obligations. What should be done about this?