6th August 2015
Nearly 40 years after the Equal Pay Act first introduced the concept of equal pay, the gender pay gap still exists: it stood at about 19 per cent in 2014. Over that period thousands of claims have been brought, mainly by women working in the public sector, but we are now starting to see more claims in the private sector.
Claims can only be brought by employees and workers and there is no minimum length of service requirement. A claim can be brought by a man or a woman.
You must identify a person of the opposite gender who does equal work and who has more generous contractual terms than you. They must work at the same establishment, or at a different establishment where broadly similar terms apply. They must be employed by the same employer or an associated employer.
Equal pay is not limited to salary or wages and includes other items, such as paid holidays, sick pay, overtime rates, contractual bonuses and benefits, and pensions.
You can submit a claim in the employment tribunal while you are still employed. If your contract of employment ends, you have six months in which to bring a claim.
If your claim succeeds, you will be entitled to the same pay as your comparator and the tribunal can award compensation going back up to six years from the date of your claim.
Equal pay claims can also be brought in the county court up to six years after your employment ends.
If you have an equal pay claim, contact Myers & Co Solicitors, based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, our employment law specialist Sarah Everton will be able to assist you by calling 01782 525012 or email sarah.everton@myerssolicitors.co.uk.
The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
