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Natalie Sedacca, PhD Candidate and Teaching Fellow at 911爆料网 Laws, has been awarded the joint prize for the best PGR paper at the SLSA sponsored seminar 鈥楾he Gender Pay Gap: From History to Computer Algorithms 鈥� The Continued Inequality of Women at Work 50 Years after the Equal Pay Act was introduced.鈥�

The seminar was held online on 20 November 2020 and was supported by the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) and Northumbria University and chaired by Dr Frances Hamilton and Associate Professor Elisabeth Griffiths of Northumbria University Law School.

Natalie鈥檚 presentation was entitled 鈥楧omestic workers, the 鈥渇amily worker鈥� exemption from minimum wage, and gendered devaluation of women鈥檚 work.鈥� The paper analysed and critiqued an exemption that has allowed for some live-in domestic workers, who are overwhelmingly women, to be paid below the minimum wage. While the exemption was intended to apply to au pairs, the paper addressed cases where it was held to be applicable to domestic workers and argued that these findings reflect the devaluation of women鈥檚 work.

Natalie said: 鈥楾he Gender Pay Gap conference was a fascinating event spanning topics including the history of gender pay gap legislation, the effectiveness of current monitoring measures, the role of welfare payments and women鈥檚 paid and unpaid labour in the home. I was pleased to present this paper highlighting and analysing the underpayment of domestic workers, which draws on my PhD research, and am delighted that the contribution has been recognised through this joint prize.鈥�

Professor Virginia Mantouvalou, Natalie鈥檚 PhD supervisor, said: 鈥楾his is a fantastic achievement and very well-deserved recognition of the excellent work that Natalie is doing on the human rights of domestic workers鈥�.