Equal Value in British Banking: The Midland Bank Case

Abstract

The British banking industry employs over 200 000 women, mostly in lower paid work, and hence the 1983 Equal Value (Amendment) Regulations brought the threat of a major increase in labour cost. In this chapter we examine the response of the English Clearing Banks,1 and, in particular, discuss the way in which the Midland Bank avoided the potential threat of legal action by introducing an integrated job-evaluation system which it believed to be free of sex discrimination in its construction and implementation. These recent changes will be considered in the context of the history of women in British banking, trade unions in banking, previous equality initiatives, and the Midland Bank’s perception of its commercial interests.