By Tash Shifrin
09 July 2009
Almost three in ten local authorities in England and Wales are facing potentially expensive tribunal cases over equal pay, a survey by Local Government Employers has revealed.
The unpublished findings came as Unison celebrated a victory for 1,200 women workers employed by Bury Metropolitan Borough Council in an equal pay case heard by Manchester employment tribunal on July 3.
The ruling means the low-paid women – including cleaning staff and cooks – will now earn bonus payments of between a third and a half of their wages, in line with male comparators. The women could each gain thousands of pounds.
Jon Sutcliffe, principal strategic director of Local Government Employers, told Public Finance that 94 authorities – 29% of those surveyed – were involved in ‘active tribunal cases’ over equal pay. But he noted that the survey of 325 authorities – 87% of the total number – ‘doesn’t tell us how many tribunal cases they actually have’. Some councils faced just a handful of claims, while others were handling ‘up to 200’.
Sutcliffe said the proportion of councils facing tribunal claims could be seen in a ‘positive’ light, given the efforts by no-win, no-fee lawyers as well as unions to bring equal pay challenges.
He said that in the Northeast region, where prominent no-win, no-fee equal pay lawyer Stefan Cross is based, every local authority reported that they were involved in tribunals. The Southeast had fewest councils facing equal pay challenges, with just four affected.
Sutcliffe said 55% of authorities had now completed pay structure reviews in line with the 1997 Single Status Agreement between unions and employers, which was designed to give women and men equal pay for work of equal value.
He told PF: ‘It is very welcome that 76.6% of those who have completed [pay restructuring] did so with the agreement of the trade unions. A particularly important factor in that is that so many of these deals – 84% – have included pay protection.’
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis welcomed his members’ equal pay victory in Bury, saying: ‘The Tory council, especially the chief executive, have a lot to answer for to the people of Bury. We are delighted that the women have won pay justice at last.’
But council chief executive Mark Sanders told PF that bonus payments at the council had been linked to productivity increases. He said that for the jobs occupied by the women claimants, ‘we could not have introduced a productivity scheme, principally in the caring areas’.
The council was seeking legal advice about an appeal, he said, adding that it could not afford the ‘significant number of millions’ that payouts to the women would cost.
09 July 2009
Almost three in ten local authorities in England and Wales are facing potentially expensive tribunal cases over equal pay, a survey by Local Government Employers has revealed.
The unpublished findings came as Unison celebrated a victory for 1,200 women workers employed by Bury Metropolitan Borough Council in an equal pay case heard by Manchester employment tribunal on July 3.
The ruling means the low-paid women – including cleaning staff and cooks – will now earn bonus payments of between a third and a half of their wages, in line with male comparators. The women could each gain thousands of pounds.
Jon Sutcliffe, principal strategic director of Local Government Employers, told Public Finance that 94 authorities – 29% of those surveyed – were involved in ‘active tribunal cases’ over equal pay. But he noted that the survey of 325 authorities – 87% of the total number – ‘doesn’t tell us how many tribunal cases they actually have’. Some councils faced just a handful of claims, while others were handling ‘up to 200’.
Sutcliffe said the proportion of councils facing tribunal claims could be seen in a ‘positive’ light, given the efforts by no-win, no-fee lawyers as well as unions to bring equal pay challenges.
He said that in the Northeast region, where prominent no-win, no-fee equal pay lawyer Stefan Cross is based, every local authority reported that they were involved in tribunals. The Southeast had fewest councils facing equal pay challenges, with just four affected.
Sutcliffe said 55% of authorities had now completed pay structure reviews in line with the 1997 Single Status Agreement between unions and employers, which was designed to give women and men equal pay for work of equal value.
He told PF: ‘It is very welcome that 76.6% of those who have completed [pay restructuring] did so with the agreement of the trade unions. A particularly important factor in that is that so many of these deals – 84% – have included pay protection.’
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis welcomed his members’ equal pay victory in Bury, saying: ‘The Tory council, especially the chief executive, have a lot to answer for to the people of Bury. We are delighted that the women have won pay justice at last.’
But council chief executive Mark Sanders told PF that bonus payments at the council had been linked to productivity increases. He said that for the jobs occupied by the women claimants, ‘we could not have introduced a productivity scheme, principally in the caring areas’.
The council was seeking legal advice about an appeal, he said, adding that it could not afford the ‘significant number of millions’ that payouts to the women would cost.
