Female workers win in pay ruling

The court ruled that councils still pay male staff better

Pay schemes that perpetuate sexual discrimination have been deemed illegal in a landmark Court of Appeal ruling.

The Court found in favour of two separate groups of female public sector workers, who claimed they were unfairly treated by their employers.

The claimants were school cleaners and crossing patrol staff working for councils in the North East of England.

BBC employment correspondent Martin Shankleman said the ruling could trigger thousands of extra claims.

The cases were brought against Middlesbrough, and Redcar and Cleveland councils.

'Cushion'

Councils signed the "single status agreement" in 1997, committing local authorities to delivering equal pay for women workers where their wages had fallen behind the men.

Some local authorities have reacted by cutting men's wages and introducing a pay protection plan for those affected to cushion the blow to their wage packets.

But Lord Justice Mummery ruled that this still resulted in discrimination against women workers for several years until their salaries reached parity.

Rachel Crasnow, a barrister whose colleagues acted for some of the women, called the finding " very significant".

Ms Crasnow estimated that the councils involved may have to pay �2m in compensation alone to the women who bought the claims.

"Roughly speaking it may be that each women is entitled to about �2,000, which is a lot of money for women employed in these kinds of jobs," she said.

She added that other council employees may now make similar claims.

At the same time, women working for the NHS whose jobs might have been changed during a massive re-grading exercise called "Agenda for Change" might also be able to take action.

"The court's ruling, that discriminatory pay protection is unlawful, could pave the way for thousands of new equal pay claims against local authorities and the NHS," she said.

Commission view

The Equality and Human Rights Commission had originally supported the women's claims.

However, it withdrew its backing during the hearing, as it was concerned about a mounting backlog of equal pay claims in the legal system.

A spokeswoman for the Commission said it was pleased that the ruling meant the law had been clarified, and that employers were still entitled to make transitional arrangements to cushion the impact of equalising pay between men and women, providing the arrangements were themselves fair.

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