09 March 2007
Thousands of female civil servants are poised to launch equal pay claims following the failure of departments to address glaring disparities in salaries – legal challenges that could cost the Treasury millions of pounds.
As Public Finance went to press, the Public and Commercial Services trade union, Whitehall's largest, claimed it was set to expose the fallout from the Treasury's 2% pay cap by launching 11 'test' equal pay claims at the Ministry of Defence.
The union said that the cap had solidified pay disparities between men and women. Although departments drew up plans to tackle the issue in 2003, they are struggling to eradicate disparities and raise overall pay levels simultaneously. Local government pay equality has been stymied by similar problems.
Mark Serwotka, the PCS's general secretary, said: 'Civil service pay is riddled with inequality and inefficiency, which is compounded by departments such as the MoD seeking to drive down pay by imposing below-inflation pay offers.'
The claims at the MoD, due to be lodged on March 8, relate to pay disparities between the department's executive officer grade, a post often filled by women, and the male-dominated instructional officer grade.
The union said: 'Starting salaries between the two civilian jobs can differ by as much as £5,000, even though the two jobs are in the same pay band.' The pay scale covering both roles covers starting salaries that differ by up to £10,000, the union said.
If the MoD fails to address equal pay issues quickly, the PCS warned, it would encourage up to 4,000 female executive officers to lodge claims. These could end in tribunals and, possibly, court cases.
Privately, the claims were viewed with dismay by the MoD, which enjoyed the highest pay rises under this year's tight public sector settlements. However, the MoD's inflation-busting rises of 9.2%, 6.2% or 3.3%, announced on March 1, related to armed forces personnel, including those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The department's civil service staff received a below-inflation average increase of 2.5%.
The MoD said it was 'satisfied that its pay policies do not discriminate on gender grounds'.
A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office, which co-ordinates Whitehall's equal pay strategy, said: 'Action to address equal pay anomalies continues to be taken by departments and agencies and these are supported by the Treasury and Cabinet Office where there is a robust business case for doing so. Such actions include steps to shorten pay range lengths, improvement in pay progression of staff and addressing “leap-frogging” on promotion.
'Organisations are moving towards the elimination of overlapping pay ranges.'
The PCS, which is involved in a wider dispute over Whitehall reforms, has successfully contested equal pay claims elsewhere. Last year, 3,300 female Prison Service staff won settlements following a court ruling.
The union told PF that it is also considering lodging claims at other departments.
A spokesman said: 'Equal pay is a problem elsewhere, too. But these [MoD] cases are those where we feel confident we can illustrate the causes of equal pay and demonstrate the extent of the problem successfully.'
A Whitehall working party is due to publish a report on equal pay issues this summer.
PFmar2007
