High street retailer Next are the latest in a long line of employers to lose sex discrimination claims for equal pay. The judgement will cost them tens of millions of pounds in back pay and increased wages.
Most people we speak to imagine equal pay claims to be one individual claiming another is paid more than them for the same or similar work.
However, whereas there are some such claims, the headline acts are those that claim that large swathes of mostly female workers in an organisation have been treated less favourably than men doing different but comparable roles.
For example, claims that were brought by female supermarket store workers who successfully argued that their work was of equal value to roles done by male warehouse operatives who were paid significantly more. Five supermarkets are currently being taken to Tribunal over this.
The Next case is very similar, it was brought by female store employees who successfully claimed that they were paid less than male warehouse staff without a justifiable reason. Thousands will now enjoy a pay increase of up to £3 per hour and average backpay compensation of £6,000 each. Ouch!
The most high-profile equal pay claims have been against councils, especially Glasgow and Birmingham, where female teaching assistants, cleaners and catering staff claimed they were treated less favourably than male refuse collectors and street cleaners in terms of pay. Their successful claim pretty much bankrupted Birmingham city council with liabilities for backpay running into the billions – yes, billions!
As such claims are almost always historic, the costs can be huge because organisations are required to not only increase current wages for the successful Claimants, but also compensate them for previous years of lower pay, as with the above cases.
Next, amongst others, relied on a defence that they were simply paying the ‘market rate’ for roles. However, that is tricky to rely on as it is often the case that higher male salaries in certain roles can be a hangover from discriminatory practices over many years and can’t really be justified when compared to the pay of females carrying out roles that have a similar level of difficulty, or the result of years of strong union collective bargaining that is often not present in female dominated workplaces.
If you would like to discuss discrimination, harassment or any other HR issues please contact us. We will be delighted to speak to you.