Pensions and Equal Pay
As regular readers know, female dominated council jobs experience a real 'double whammy' when it comes to equal pay.
Not only have they been paid less for many years – and many female workers continue to be paid less than men - but this discrimination continues when people reach retirement age.
Take two typical jobs - a Home Carer and Refuse Driver, for example.
Assume both jobs are full-time and that the female carer is paid £15,000 a year - while the refuse worker gets £21,000 a year.
This results in a typical pay gap of around £6,000 per annum (@r £3.00 per hour) based on our experience around the UK.
So, the carer’s equal pay claim is to close the gap of £3.00 per hour and to recover the £6,000 a year – which can be backdated for up to 5 years.
But people's retirement benefits are based on their final salary - so again the women lose out – even under some of the new pay and grading structures.
The maximum benefits under the pension scheme are - half of your final salary and three times your annual pension, paid as tax free lump sum.
So, the refuse worker (on maximum benefits) would get £10,500 a year as a pension - plus £31,500 (3 x £10,500) by way of a lump sum.
The female home carer, on the other hand, would get only £7,500 a year as a pension - plus £22,500 (3 x £7,500) by way of a lump sum.
So, if she lives for 20 years after retiring, the home carer loses out again - by a whopping £69,000 (20 x £3,000 = £60,000 + £9,000 difference in the lump sums)
That's the reason why so many people are waking up to the fact that they have an equal pay claim - even now - and that a successful claim could make a big difference to their lives.
Not only have they been paid less for many years – and many female workers continue to be paid less than men - but this discrimination continues when people reach retirement age.
Take two typical jobs - a Home Carer and Refuse Driver, for example.
Assume both jobs are full-time and that the female carer is paid £15,000 a year - while the refuse worker gets £21,000 a year.
This results in a typical pay gap of around £6,000 per annum (@r £3.00 per hour) based on our experience around the UK.
So, the carer’s equal pay claim is to close the gap of £3.00 per hour and to recover the £6,000 a year – which can be backdated for up to 5 years.
But people's retirement benefits are based on their final salary - so again the women lose out – even under some of the new pay and grading structures.
The maximum benefits under the pension scheme are - half of your final salary and three times your annual pension, paid as tax free lump sum.
So, the refuse worker (on maximum benefits) would get £10,500 a year as a pension - plus £31,500 (3 x £10,500) by way of a lump sum.
The female home carer, on the other hand, would get only £7,500 a year as a pension - plus £22,500 (3 x £7,500) by way of a lump sum.
So, if she lives for 20 years after retiring, the home carer loses out again - by a whopping £69,000 (20 x £3,000 = £60,000 + £9,000 difference in the lump sums)
That's the reason why so many people are waking up to the fact that they have an equal pay claim - even now - and that a successful claim could make a big difference to their lives.
