Unison has won its second major victory in a month, in a landmark equal pay ruling at an Employment Appeal Tribunal in Scotland.
Councils had argued employees could only seek equal pay compensation if they were based on the same premises, or they had the same pay and conditions. This argument has now failed.The result comes just weeks after it was ruled that Birmingham City Council would be forced to pay compensation to thousands of women staff for their equal pay claims. Estimates suggested the council could be forced to pay up to £600m to the women workers, who challenged the council’s decision to pay them bonuses of up to 160% of their basic salary.
The latest ruling, by the Edinburgh Employment Appeal Tribunal, could affect up to 70,000 workers across the UK, with claims of up to £30,000.
Unison general secretary, Dave Prentis, said: ‘Our equal pay campaign has defeated every contrived defence [councils’] lawyers have hidden behind.
‘This charade has gone on for far too long. We want full compensation for all our members and that money must be paid now.’
