Female workers in equal pay fight
Low-paid female council workers could lodge a fresh wave of equal pay claims from a landmark employment hearing. Lawyer blasts council over job evaluations
Dozens are involved in the latest pay claim against North Lanarkshire Council , which lawyers claim could pave the way for thousands more to be submitted if they are successful.
The two-week hearing finished on Thursday with Daphne Romney KC representing dozens of cleaners, home carers and school cooks who argue their job evaluations are unfair.
Romney told the tribunal the council’s job evaluation process was “disgraceful” and pointed to specific examples where jobs fulfilled mainly by men, such as
bin collectors, gardeners or street sweepers, were upgraded but jobs typically done by women had been undervalued. If judges rule in their
favour, Romney said it could lead to thousands more claims being submitted by current and former employees.
During the final hearing on Thursday, the KC told judges: “It is in my submission that this is absolutely disgraceful that this was done. Disgraceful.
“This was boasted about – ‘Look at me. I am so clever, I’ve saved you millions of pounds.’ Five million quid saved by picking on predominantly female jobs and cutting down their job evaluations.
“If that does not itself raise reasonable grounds for suspicion, I don’t know what does.”
Romney accused council officials of being “so mean” in some cases when reviewing job evaluations.
She said: “Look at the cleaning bill – there are about 100 cleaners and £ 64,000 saved. You don’t see any male person on that list, do you?”
A spokeswoman for North Lanarkshire Council said the authority was fully committed to equal pay.
She added: “The Employment Tribunal has been asked to consider the reliability of a small selection of current and historical job evaluations conducted by the council together with its trade union partners. We await the judgment.
“We remain committed to our equal pay obligations and around £ 130million has been paid in settlements to date.”