South Lanarkshire
The fight for equal pay continues in South Lanarkshire Council.
11 days have already been spent in a Pre-Hearing Review on the council's job evaluation scheme - and a further 17 days are listed, starting again in May 2010.
The council's position is that it delivered equal pay in April 2004 - but the way in which South Lanarkshire implemented the 1999 Single Status Agreement - was unlike any other council in Scotland.
Pay information - about the differences in pay between male and female jobs - is freely available in other Scottish councils.
But not in South Lanarkshire Council.
South Lanarkshire Council used its own 'in-house' job evaluation (JE) scheme - instead of the national scheme recommended by COSLA and the trade unions.
But the council refuses to explain where this JE scheme came from, who created the scheme and what credentials - if any - the authors of the scheme possessed.
South Lanarkshire Council is also refusing to fully disclose all the relevant pay information - that would explain the differences in pay between male and female job groups.
South Lanarkshire's behaviour raises is a fundamental issue - do employees have the right to information that can show whether they suffered pay discrimination - at the hands of their employer?
The answer to that question should be obvious - especially as it comes down to how public money has been spent by a major, public-sector employer - a Labour-led council that says it supports the principles of Freedom of Information.
The underlying issue is about openness and transparency on one side - versus concealment and obfuscation on the other .
Maybe it's time to complain to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
11 days have already been spent in a Pre-Hearing Review on the council's job evaluation scheme - and a further 17 days are listed, starting again in May 2010.
The council's position is that it delivered equal pay in April 2004 - but the way in which South Lanarkshire implemented the 1999 Single Status Agreement - was unlike any other council in Scotland.
Pay information - about the differences in pay between male and female jobs - is freely available in other Scottish councils.
But not in South Lanarkshire Council.
South Lanarkshire Council used its own 'in-house' job evaluation (JE) scheme - instead of the national scheme recommended by COSLA and the trade unions.
But the council refuses to explain where this JE scheme came from, who created the scheme and what credentials - if any - the authors of the scheme possessed.
South Lanarkshire Council is also refusing to fully disclose all the relevant pay information - that would explain the differences in pay between male and female job groups.
South Lanarkshire's behaviour raises is a fundamental issue - do employees have the right to information that can show whether they suffered pay discrimination - at the hands of their employer?
The answer to that question should be obvious - especially as it comes down to how public money has been spent by a major, public-sector employer - a Labour-led council that says it supports the principles of Freedom of Information.
The underlying issue is about openness and transparency on one side - versus concealment and obfuscation on the other .
Maybe it's time to complain to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
