South Lanarkshire Council (Appellant) v The Scottish Information Commissioner (Respondent) (Scotland) – Supreme Court
Supreme Court, 29th July 2013
Category: equal pay
Council loses Supreme Court appeal over disclosure of equal pay data – Local Government Lawyer
“The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a council against disclosure of information on equal pay.”
Local Government Lawyer, 29th July 2013
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Dumfries and Galloway Council v North (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening) – WLR Daily
“The hypothesis of the second limb of the ‘in the same employment’ test in section 1(6) of the Equal Pay Act 1970 was that the chosen male comparators were to be transferred to do their present jobs in the location where the women claimants worked, while there was no requirement of any real possibility that such a transfer would occur. The question to be answered was whether in the event of such a transfer, however unlikely, the comparators would remain employed on the same or broadly similar terms and conditions to those applicable in their current place of work.”
WLR Daily, 26th June 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
A historic leap forward for equal pay claimants? – UK Human Rights Blog
“Dumfries and Galloway -v- North [2013] UKSC 45. Yesterday’s much heralded equal pay ‘victory’ in the Supreme Court (see BBC Report) undoubtedly will be good news for the specific female claimants in the case who seek to vindicate their European Union rights to equal pay.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 27th June 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Equivalent employees need not share a workplace to benefit from equal pay protections, Supreme Court rules – OUT-LAW.com
“Employees hired to carry out jobs of equal value need not work in the same
‘establishment’ in order to benefit from protections given to those in the ‘same
employment’ under equal pay law, the UK’s highest court has confirmed.”
OUT-LAW.com, 28th June 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
The Supreme Court widens scope for equal pay comparisons – Employment Law Blog
“The question of when equal pay claimants can rely upon comparators employed at different establishments on common terms and conditions under s.1(6) Equal Pay Act 1970 (and now, s.79(4) Equality Act 2010) has long generated an inordinate amount of heat, not light. A unanimous Supreme Court (Lady Hale giving the single judgment) has now cleared away some of the fog of confusion in North v Dumfries and Galloway Council [2013] IKSC 45. In the process, it has overturned both the EAT and the Court of Session Inner House.”
Employment Law Blog, 27th June 2013
Source: www.employment11kbw.com
Supreme Court gives green light to school staff to bring equal pay claims – Local Government Lawyer
“The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal by a 251-strong group of female council employees and restored an Employment Tribunal decision that they could bring equal pay claims.”
Local Government Lawyer, 26th June 2013
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
North and others (Appellants) v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Respondent) (Scotland) – Supreme Court
Supreme Court, 26th June 2013
Companies will not be forced to publish results of equal pay audits, says Government – OUT-LAW.com
“Companies that are required to undertake equal pay audits would not be required to make the results of those audits public, the Government has proposed.”
OUT-LAW.com, 28th May 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
Equal pay in City law: is there a light at the end of the tunnel? – The Guardian
“We urgently need up to date research on gender and equality pay within the legal sector, say LSB.”
The Guardian, 20th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Kenny v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform – WLR Daily
Kenny v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Case C-427/11); [2013] WLR (D) 87
“In the light of article 141 EC and Council Directive 75/117/EEC (relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women meant, in relation to indirect pay discrimination), it was for the employer to establish objective justification for the difference in pay between workers who considered that they had been indirectly discriminated against and the comparators. The employer’s justification for the difference in pay had to relate to the comparators. The interests of good industrial relations might be taken into consideration by the national court as one factor among others in its assessment of whether differences between the pay of two groups of workers were due to objective factors unrelated to any discrimination on grounds of sex and are compatible with the principle of proportionality.”
WLR Daily, 28th February 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Review of published evidence on the equality of pay in legal services – Legal Services Board
“Studies of earnings in the legal profession have consistently shown that women earn less than men and that individuals from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups earn less than their white colleagues. This is confirmed in a review by the Legal Services Board (LSB) of the quantitative data available on the earnings of legal professionals in England and Wales. The LSB published the Review of published evidence on the equality of pay in legal services on 28 February 2013.”
Legal Services Board, 28th February 2013
Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk
Equal pay legislation has resulted in ‘interminable litigation’, judge claims – Daily Telegraph
“Equal pay litigation has reached “almost epidemic proportions” but has failed to eradicate unfair pay discrimination over the past few decades, a leading judge has claimed.”
Daily Telegraph, 6th December 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Equal pay claims: should equal pay claims be brought in an ordinary court? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
“As Harvey points out in Division K, there have been inconsistent decisions over the last year on whether equal pay claims can be brought in an ordinary court, the obvious point being that in a tribunal a claimant must claim within six months of leaving the employment whereas in a court action the limitation period would be six years.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 19th November 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Birmingham city council faces £757m bill to settle equal pay claims – The Guardian
“The country’s largest local authority faces a potential bill of £757m to settle a string of equal pay claims lodged by mainly women workers, amid speculation that other councils and private sector firms could be targeted by a new wave of legal action.”
The Guardian, 12th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Abdulla and others v Birmingham City Council – WLR Daily
Abdulla and others v Birmingham City Council [2012] UKSC 47; [2012] WLR (D) 294
“A claim in respect of the operation of an equality clause in a contract of employment could never more conveniently be disposed of by an employment tribunal, rather than a court, if the tribunal would not be able to determine the claim on its merits because the limitation period applicable in the tribunal had expired.”
WLR Daily, 24th October 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Mediation is the future, Falconer says – Law Society’s Gazette
“The Supreme Court’s equal pay ruling yesterday will lead to ‘billions and billions worth of claims’ Labour’s former lord chancellor has predicted. Lord Falconer … suggested that such claims be mediated rather than leaving them to the ‘vagaries of the legal system’, which he said would be costly and could take years.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 25th October 2012
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Women who worked for Birmingham council win equal pay court fight – The Guardian
“Scores of women who worked for a local authority have won an equal pay compensation fight at the UK’s highest court.”
The Guardian, 24th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Forced equal pay audits for sexist bosses who lose tribunal claims – Daily Telegraph
“Company bosses who lose an employment tribunal claim over equal pay must review the wages for all staff, ministers have said.”
Daily Telegraph, 14th June 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Sunderland City Council v Brennan and others – WLR Daily
Sunderland City Council v Brennan and others [2012] EWCA Civ 413; [2012] WLR (D) 113
“An employer had no defence to an equal pay claim where its reason for a differential in payment between female and male employees was that the male employees had attracted a bonus for productivity when at the material time the link between productivity and bonus had been broken.”
WLR Daily, 3rd April 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
