Warning for RBS over equal pay claims

A bank is being warned it could face a raft of equal pay claims after a £150,000 payout in a long-running case of a woman who complained of being paid less than a man for doing the same job.

Unite said the female employee of the Royal Bank of Scotland was paid more than £30,000 a year less in pay and benefits than a male counter part doing the same job over seven years.

She was made redundant in 2017 and was about to take a claim to an employment tribunal when the case was settled, Unite said.

Unite assistant general secretary for legal services Howard Beckett said: “It is simply staggering that nearly 50 years on from the Equal Pay Act that a taxpayer-funded bank has been found to be discriminating against a female employee to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds.

“We now know that the number of women who received a bonus in 2015 was 20 per cent compared to 39 per cent of men and that a year later the gap widened further still.

“Unite will be reviewing the implications of this case and won’t hesitate to support further equal pay claims.”

A bank spokesman said: “We take a fair and inclusive approach to setting pay and career progression.”