The claimants sought to bring an equal pay claim, but the prospective male comparators were employed at a different establishment and under different conditions. They appealed from a decision that they had not met the threshhold to make a claim.
Held: The appeal succeeded, and the claimants were to be permitted to pursue their claim. The equal pay principle could have direct effect only if the difference in treatment between claimants and comparators must be attributable to a single source which is capable of putting it right. That applied here. If s1(6) operated as a barrier to a comparison which was required by EU law to give effect to the fundamental principle of equal treatment it would be the court’s duty to disapply it. However, s 1(6) creates a low threshold which does not operate as a barrier to the comparison proposed in this case.
Lord Hope, Deputy President, Lady Hale, Lord Wilson, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes
[2013] Eq LR 817, [2013] UKSC 45, 2013 SCLR 609, [2013] WLR(D) 264, [2013] 4 All ER 413, 2013 GWD 23-439, [2013] ICR 993, [2013] IRLR 737, 2013 SLT 769, UKSC 2011/0046
Bailii, WLRD, Bailii Summary, SC Summar, SC
Equal Pay Act 1970 1(6)
Scotland
Citing:
At EAT – Dumfries and Galloway Council v North and Others EAT 24-Apr-2009
EAT 244 Equal Pay claims by classroom assistants, support for learning assistants and nursery nurses employed by local authority. They sought to compare themselves with male manual workers based elsewhere, at . .
At Court of Session – North and Others v Dumfries and Galloway Council and Another SCS 7-Jan-2011
Equal pay claim: whether claimants and comparators ‘in the same employment’ . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 14 November 2021; Ref: scu.511085