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Equal Pay Claims

The Equal Pay Act 1970 gives women (or men) the right to the same pay and other terms and conditions of employment as men (or women) for doing the same work or work of equal value. It covers both pay and other terms and conditions such as piecework, output and bonus payments, holidays and sick leave, so if a man and a woman doing the same work have the same basic pay, there still may be an equal pay claim if other benefits (such as a company car, employer's pension contributions, etc) are not provided on an equal basis.

Despite the title, the Equal Pay Act covers all sex discriminatory terms and conditions of employment. The Equal Pay Act is part of the anti-sex discrimination legislation.

However, employers do not have to provide the same pay and benefits for equal work if they can prove the difference is due to another factor such as geographical location, market forces or another factor not related to difference in sex of people doing the work.

Remedies

A successful claim under the Equal Pay Act will result in compensation.

An Employment Tribunal has the power to order 'back pay' to an 'arrears date' (in a standard case the date falling six years before the day on which the proceedings were instituted but it can be up to twelve years if an employer deliberately concealed a relevant fact without knowledge of which the individual could not reasonably be expected to initiate proceedings).

If you think you have an equal pay claim, please contact Lara Scott on 0116 212 1000 or complete the form below. Lawson-West offer free initial advice so it won't cost you a penny to find out if you have a claim.

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