Former APT&C Workers
Here's a further update on the outstanding equal pay cases for former APT&C workers - in the light of yesterday's developments in the North case at the UK Supreme Court.
As far as clients of Action 4 Equality Scotland (A4ES) are concerned, you have no need to take any action at this stage - because Fox and Partners Solicitors are pressing all the relevant council employers to settle their outstanding claims.
The council employers who have been refusing to accept the inevitable and the outcome of the Wilkinson case - see post dated 26 June 2013 - now have nowhere left to hide.
As regular readers will know Fox and Partners Solicitors (FPS) represent A4ES clients at the Employment Tribunals - and Carol Fox has posted the following statement on the FPS web site.
Important update on EV cases – Victory for Claimants at Supreme Court
The Supreme Court in London has now handed down the decision of the EV test cases, North and others v Dumfries and Galloway Council. As we have advised in previous update letters this is the test case which has caused delay in some Equal Value claims proceeding at the Employment Tribunal.
In North Lanarkshire Council we have nearly 500 claimants and we are therefore pressing for an early hearing following this victory. We have written to the Employment Tribunal requesting an urgent hearing to ensure that progress is now made in relation to these outstanding Equal Value cases for Clerical Workers, Classroom Assistants and all former APT&C claimants.
We expect to attend a Case Management Discussion in the near future and will post regular updates on the website advising you of developments. We think it may be unlikely that we will receive immediate settlement offers and in any event we require detailed pay information to ensure that any offer of settlement can be properly assessed and recommended to you.
We are aware that there may have been settlements locally but we have not yet been satisfied with the pay information we have requested from the Council. If this is not provided voluntarily then we must proceed to the Employment Tribunal as we have a professional obligation to ensure that we can value your claim and any out of court settlement offer. We appreciate your continued patience and cooperation.
In smaller Councils such as East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire where a settlement has been agreed in principle pending the outcome of this test case we will now write to the Council seeking settlement offers and will forward any offer to claimants as soon as possible. You do not need to take any further action.
The remaining Councils with smaller numbers of unsettled EV cases such as Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Clackmannanshire Council, East Dunbartonshire Council, East Lothian, Midlothian Council, Perth & Kinross Council, South Ayrshire Council and West Lothian Council will now be required to consider their position and either make settlement offers in the near future or return to the Employment Tribunal. Again we will write to all of these Councils seeking settlement offers and will keep you advised. You do not need to take any further action.
This victory at the Supreme Court in London demonstrates that even when Councils spend large amounts of taxpayers’ money exhausting the appeal process they still lose. This decision should make all Councils consider settlement of all outstanding equal pay claims in Scotland.
