Equal Pay Claims are Rising

In July 2017, tribunal fees were ruled to be unlawful, and so the barrier that stopped employees claiming against their employers was opened, and the claims started to flood in. The number of claims being made has risen, quarter-by-quarter, month-by-month, ever since tribunal fees were scrapped.

A whole host of issues can end up at an employment tribunal, including HR and health and safety issues. But with the recent insights provided by the gender pay gap reports, and more and more research showing women are underrepresented in the workplace—how many of these claims are related to equal pay?

How many equal pay claims have been made?

Prior to the tribunal fees being scrapped, 6,337 equal pay claims had been made in the period Apr-Jun 2017.

After fees were scrapped in July, equal pay claims rocketed to a whopping 18,051 for the period Jul-Sep. Since then, a total of 28,780 equal pay claims have gone to tribunal. The message here is clear: no fees means an increase in claims.

Although cases related to equal pay may not always rule in favour of the employee, the cost, time and reputational damage they can cause are enough to give pause to even the toughest employers.

What about other types of pay claims?

Equal pay is by far the biggest reason employees take their employers to tribunal; however, there has been a steady increase in the amount of redundancy pay claims since July 2017 too.

Prior to the fee ruling, the amount of redundancy pay claims made were 758, this increased to 1,047 immediately after the ruling, then crept up to 1,058 the following quarter, and again to 1,183 the next quarter.

Also, unlawful deduction claims reached a peak in Oct-Dec, with a total of 9,127 claims being made, and there were 7,120 holiday pay claims made last quarter. Pay can be a volatile subject.

After all, it is what everyone goes to work for. Any issues relating to pay can quickly escalate if not handled carefully. Ideally, these issues would be caught before they can proceed to something as severe as a tribunal, however this can’t always be the case.

Expert Advice

If you are facing an employment tribunal related to pay and/or benefits, contact an Reward expert for quick, comprehensive advice on 01455 858 132.