Success for Equal Pay Battle

Part-time women workers are celebrating a landmark victory in a pension payout dispute after an equal pay fight against a top private school which has lasted for more than 11 years. With the help of public-sector union UNISON, the women finally won a payout in excess of £150,000 after originally taking their pay claim to the employment tribunals in 1998. The female workers at the Haberdashers boarding school for boys and girls in Monmouth School, were denied access to the school's pension scheme, while the full-time male staff working in similar roles were allowed to join on a voluntary basis. The women argued that the school was discriminating against them because of their sex and was in breach of equal pay and sex discrimination legislation. UNISON successfully argued that pensions are deferred pay, with the non-contributory scheme, based on final salary, being worth around £1,300 a year for eight years for each worker, plus a lump sum. UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis regretted that it had taken over a decade to get justice and called for a "speeded-up system" to deal with equal pay claims. "The school dragged out the case and probably spent more in legal costs than it did to settle the dispute with their loyal workers," he said. "Employers must now think twice before they oppose these type of claims or face action from UNISON." There are 27 beneficiaries in the case, including house parents, administrators, assistant matrons, cooks and cleaners. Their claims covered the period when the pension scheme was changed - between 1976 and 1999. The claimants, many of whom are now retired and will receive between £1,500 and £17,000 each, celebrated the win. However sadly because the case was dragged out by the school for so many years before an offer of compensation was made days before the tribunal, retired Kay Bamford, who worked as a cleaner for over 10 years, died before she could benefit from the landmark victory. Tess Taylor from Monmouth, who worked at the school as an assistant matron for 27 years before retiring in 1999, hailed the ruling as "a large victory for small people." She added: "I find it crazy that a satisfactory offer from the school was only made days before the tribunal took place."

Hindsight is a wonderful thing - this is a very good example of why it is important for both employer and employees to have a robust Equality and Diversity policy in place and have a happy workplace into the bargain.....

Disclaimer: the contents of this blog are not intended form the basis of legal advice. Independent legal advice should be taken from your own solicitor for all cases.