Court of Appeal (2)

We've been getting lots of enquiries following the recent Court of Appeal decision - see post dated 2 August 2008 - from people asking for more information about 'protected earnings'.

Let's take a practical example to illustrate the significance of the court's judgment - and why so many Londoners now have a further claim.

In Council A, a refuse worker was being paid £9.00 and hour (including bonus) - prior to the introdcution of a new pay and grading system.

In that same council, a carer or a cook was being paid only £6.00 per hour - so she had an equal pay claim based on the difference between the two jobs - i.e. £3.00 per hour backdated for 6 years.

The introduction of a new pay and grading system means that the carer or cook's jobreceied a small increase in pay - let's assume to £7.00 per hour.

But what the council employers have done is to protect the pay of the refuse worker - at £9.00 per hour - so the male job is still being paid £2.00 per hour more than the female job - and for years into the future.

so, the significance of the Court of Appeal decision is that the carer and the cook (along with many other jobs) can now say:

"I want my job paid at the protected rate too!"

The new claim is for the difference in pay - in this particular case £2.00 an hour - for as long ast the pay gap continues.

A worked example would be: £2.00 (the pay gap) x 30 (hours worked per week) x 52 (weeks of the year) x 4 (the number of years that male jobs are protected) = £24,960 + interest. NB the length of the protection period varies from council to council.

Needless to say - the employers are not explaining this to the thousands of women workers who now have substantial new claims - nor are the trade unions because they're too busy planning more madcap strikes.

But Action 4 Equality London and Stefan Cross are prepared to act for you - and if you need help contact us on 0845 300 3 800 or drop Mark Irvine a note at: markirvine@compuserve.com