Fife Council
At long last, things are finally coming to a head in Fife Council - following a productive CMD hearing last week.
Fife has two types of equal pay claims underway: 'rated as equivalent' claims and 'equal value' claims.
The first category involves a straightforward comparison of two manual worker jobs - the second compares a non-manual job (i.e. an APT&C or a 'white collar' post) to a manual job - or vice versa.
Fife has moved some former manual worker jobs onto monthly pay - then re-classified them as APT&C posts - this has happened in a number of other councils as well - and often the employers don't explain the potential significance of what's going on - and neither do the unions.
But the underlying equal pay issues are the just same - how do the employers justify paying traditional male jobs (e.g. refuse workers and gardeners) so much more than carers, catering staff and classroom assistants?
The Employment Tribunals have now agreed that dates will be set to bring all the Fife Council cases to a conclusion - at a GMF hearing where the council will have to defend what we believe are discriminatory pay practices.
These hearings will be held in two stages, as follows:
1st set of hearings - November to December 2008
2nd set of hearings - January to February 2009
As soon as firm dates are established we will post the details on the web site.
Fife Council may now be inclined to try and settle the cases - and if the first set are successful, the second may not need to proceed. In any event, the council's day of reckoning is approaching fast - good news for everyone involved.
Fife has two types of equal pay claims underway: 'rated as equivalent' claims and 'equal value' claims.
The first category involves a straightforward comparison of two manual worker jobs - the second compares a non-manual job (i.e. an APT&C or a 'white collar' post) to a manual job - or vice versa.
Fife has moved some former manual worker jobs onto monthly pay - then re-classified them as APT&C posts - this has happened in a number of other councils as well - and often the employers don't explain the potential significance of what's going on - and neither do the unions.
But the underlying equal pay issues are the just same - how do the employers justify paying traditional male jobs (e.g. refuse workers and gardeners) so much more than carers, catering staff and classroom assistants?
The Employment Tribunals have now agreed that dates will be set to bring all the Fife Council cases to a conclusion - at a GMF hearing where the council will have to defend what we believe are discriminatory pay practices.
These hearings will be held in two stages, as follows:
1st set of hearings - November to December 2008
2nd set of hearings - January to February 2009
As soon as firm dates are established we will post the details on the web site.
Fife Council may now be inclined to try and settle the cases - and if the first set are successful, the second may not need to proceed. In any event, the council's day of reckoning is approaching fast - good news for everyone involved.
