Equal Pay & Gender Pay Lawyers

Employers must follow a fair and thorough process prior to disciplining or dismissing an employee. Employers must thoroughly investigate and obtain evidence of the misconduct prior to commencing the disciplinary process. This should include an investigatory meeting with the employee who has committed the alleged misconduct. Once you have obtained the information you should invite the employee to a disciplinary hearing, at which they will have the right to be accompanied. 

If an employer does not have its own disciplinary process, employers should at least follow the procedure set out in the ACAS Code of practice. 

In brief, yes. In certain circumstances it is possible to justify a difference in pay between a man and a woman who are performing equal work. This defence is known as the “material factor” defence and applies where there is a particular reason, which has nothing to do with the employee’s sex, that one employee is on better terms than the other. For example, the material factor might be market forces at the time one employee was hired, geographical location, previous experience or qualifications.

However, if the effect of difference in terms is discriminatory, then an employer must also show that the material factor that they are relying on is objectively justified. This means that there must be a legitimate aim behind the material factor and it must be a proportionate way of achieving that aim.

There are a number of time limits that could apply to an equal pay claim, however broadly an employee will have 6 months from the termination of their employment, or from when they became aware they were being paid less than their comparator to bring a claim for equal pay in the Employment Tribunal. As an equal pay claim is a breach of contract claim, an employee could also bring such a claim in the civil courts and if they decide to pursue civil litigation, they will have up to 6 years from the breach to do so.

An employee who is being paid unequally to their colleague can also claim back up to 6 years in arrears, so employers need to be aware that the financial exposure for such a claim could be vast

No, not necessarily. Although a large gender pay gap could indicate potential pay disparities between your male and female employees. The gender pay gap analysis is much broader than the comparisons drawn in an equal pay claim. As a starting point, the gender pay gap will look across an organisation, irrespective of job titles or terms and conditions and look at the average differences between remuneration for female versus male employees. Equal pay claims are much more specific and will only look at cases where employees are doing equal work and are being paid unequally for it.

However, it is critical that the data obtained as part of Gender Pay Gap report is analysed carefully and regular pay and remuneration reviews take place annually, so that employers can guard against the risk that their gender pay gap data exposes an equal pay issue.

You may seek information on assessing your own pay in relation to your peers from your employer by putting questions to them directly. This could involve questions about the availability of salary information, whether there are established salary bands, and if there is a process for salary reviews or adjustments.

Additionally, although many employment contracts have a secrecy clause that may seek to prevent you from knowing how much others in your company earn, if you suspect you are not being paid equally, then this clause in your contract will be overridden by your right to seek information from a colleague (or former colleague) for the purposes of finding out whether you are being paid unequally to a comparator of the opposite sex.

If you believe you have not received equal pay, you should prepare a statement to send your employer explaining what has happened and why you believe that you have been discriminated against by not getting equal pay. The statement should identify the comparators who are receiving better terms, explain why the comparator is undertaking equal work and ask questions about how much the comparator is earning, why there is a difference, how the employer decides pay rates and ask for relevant statistics.

If your employer fails to address your statement or you consider that their answers are inaccurate or insufficient, then you can raise a grievance. It is important you get to know your internal grievance processes on how to raise a grievance to undertake this step. This is usually contained in your employee handbook or on your employer’s intranet with other HR policies and procedures.

If the outcome to the grievance also does not resolve the issue, then you can consider bringing a claim through the Employment Tribunal or the civil courts. You should seek advice on the grounds to bring your claim and how to do so. Contact us to learn more about this.

A comparator must be of the opposite sex to you, be a current or previous employee and working in the same employment. Although, they do not necessarily have to have the same direct employer as you, provided that both you and your comparator are part of the same corporate group of companies.

In brief, yes. In certain circumstances it is possible to justify a difference in pay between a man and a woman who are performing equal work. This defence is known as the “material factor” defence and applies where there is a particular reason, which has nothing to do with the employee’s sex, that one employee is on better terms than the other. For example, the material factor might be market forces at the time one employee was hired, geographical location, previous experience or qualifications.

However, if the effect of difference in terms is discriminatory, then an employer must also show that the material factor that they are relying on is objectively justified. This means that there must be a legitimate aim behind the material factor and it must be a proportionate way of achieving that aim.

There are a number of time limits that could apply to an equal pay claim, however broadly an employee will have 6 months from the termination of their employment, or from when they became aware they were being paid less than their comparator to bring a claim for equal pay in the Employment Tribunal. As an equal pay claim is a breach of contract claim, an employee could also bring such a claim in the civil courts and if they decide to pursue civil litigation, they will have up to 6 years from the breach to do so.

An employee who is being paid unequally to their colleague can also claim back up to 6 years in arrears, so the financial exposure for such a claim could be vast.

No, not necessarily. Although a large gender pay gap could indicate potential pay disparities between male and female employees. The gender pay gap analysis is much broader than the comparisons drawn in an equal pay claim. As a starting point, the gender pay gap will look across an organisation, irrespective of job titles or terms and conditions and look at the average differences between remuneration for female versus male employees. Equal pay claims are much more specific and will only look at cases where employees are doing equal work and are being paid unequally for it.