Bermuda's human rights laws.

In the House of Assembly yesterday, Deputy Premier and Development and Opportunity Minister Jerome Dill yesterday successfully piloted the Human Rights Amendment Act 1998, which ensures equal pay for equal work.

The only exceptions will be where pay differences are due to seniority, a merit system or where salary rates are calculated by "quantity or quality of production or performance.'' The Human Rights Commission will hear complaints and issue its findings, which will be binding.

After highlighting the universal discrepancies between the salaries of men and women, Mr. Dill told the House that the legislation -- which was passed -- was a "long time coming''.

And he pointed out that Bermuda had an international reputation as an "egalitarian society'' -- one that will be enhanced by the amendment.

However, PLP Ottiwell Simmons argued that the amendment was fraught with danger and asked Mr. Dill to withdraw it.

Mr. Simmons said the new amendment would let a man request a higher salary from his boss under the argument that he had higher qualifications or greater productivity than a woman, despite the fact that they were doing the same job.

And he asserted that the amendment was gender neutral, not necessarily directed toward safeguarding only women's rights in the workplace.

But the Minister Without Portfolio Kim Young told the House that on average Bermudian women earned about 75 percent of what men earned.

"And there are more Bermudian women in the work force than Bermudian men,'' she said.

Mrs. Young added that the amendment would provided an avenue of recourse for those who were not being paid equally.

Shadow Health and Family Service Minister Renee Webb asserted that if the Government was serious about equal pay for equal work legislation they would have made sure they added the phrase "of equal value'' to the bill.

"It's a watered down version of equal pay for equal work,'' she said. "It says equal pay for equal work subject to qualifications.

"This is a shame, this is a disgrace.'' Ms Webb added: "I think the objective was equal pay for equal work of equal value, but this does not meet the objective that it was intended to meet.'' And she echoed Mr. Simmons comments that the amendment gave employers who discriminated a "way out''.

"The employer can get around the discrimination by using the clause `quantity or quality'.'' Ms Webb also criticised the Deputy Premier's comments that Bermuda was an `egalitarian' society.

"If that were the case 500 people would not have been at Stonington for a racism forum,'' she said. "If we were an egalitarian society we would not need this legislation.

"If we were, why are so many people crying out for equality.'' Ms Webb also questioned how the amendment protected those workers who signed contracts agreeing not to discuss their salaries.

"How will they prove it,'' she asked.

Shadow Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Paula Cox said the amendment would enjoy more support if it truly addressed equality.

"It gives with one hand but takes away with the other by qualifying it,'' she said. "We all know what should be done -- equal pay for equal work of equal value.'' Ms Cox said the amendment would "lull'' people into a false sense of security and said that the Opposition was afraid that justice was not being served.

"This is not good enough.'' But the Deputy Premier insisted that the legislation would have a positive impact on those who were receiving less pay for performing equal work.

"Just because it doesn't use the international slogan `equal pay for equal work of equal value' does not mean that it is not positive,'' he said. "It is an offensive suggestion to say that the act does not achieve what it was supposed to.'' And he said that he hoped the public would interpret the Opposition comments as minor "blips'' in the entire debate.

Shadow Youth, Sport, Parks and Recreation Minister John Barritt told the House that the amendment established the principle of equal pay for equal work.

And he said that the qualifying aspects -- merit, seniority and production -- were "common sense'' ones.

"The only reason why we have those qualifiers is because they are already in place,'' he explained.

Kim Young