Equal Pay Claims

Employment Law– Equal Pay Claims – Statutory Grievance – Written Grievance Letter – Grievance Proceedings

A court decision has made a determination on equal pay claims in relation to their compliance with the statutory grievance procedure. In the case of The Highland Council v (1) TGWU/Unison (2) GMB and (3) Individual Claimants [2007], the Employment Appeals Tribunal (“EAT”) considered whether claimants involved in disputes over equal pay had suitably complied with the requirements as outlined in the statutory grievance procedure. These requirements had to be adhered to when claims presented to the tribunal identified different comparators to those outlined in the corresponding grievance letters.

The EAT came to the decision that the comparison was so fundamental to an equal pay claim that a comparator must be specified at least by reference to job or job type. However, it was also held that there was no requirement for an absolute match between comparator job titles in the grievance and ET1 (Tribunal Claim Form). Instead, it was decided that they only had to be substantially the same.

Furthermore, the EAT also gave guidance on the options open to a claimant if they discovered materially different comparator(s) to those identified in their grievance subsequent to submitting a written grievance to the employer.

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© RT COOPERS, 2008. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances.