Meals supervisors and others win equal pay

An equal pay claim involving close to 1,000 women working at Sheffield City Council has been settled before it reached a Supreme Court hearing scheduled for this month. The council decided not to appeal the 2010 ruling that found the school meals supervisors, care workers and cleaners were paid less than men in equivalent jobs.

The court last year ruled that it was discriminatory that men employed as street cleaners and gardeners received a long standing productivity bonus scheme that meant they were paid up to 38% more than their female colleagues.

On the grounds of wishing to avoid further litigation for reasons of time and cost, Sheffield City Council said it had decided to settle with UNISON, the public sector union which brought the case on behalf of the women.

The terms of the settlement are confidential but reports following last year’s judgement estimate the compensation payments to be about £20 million.

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of UNISON, said: “This decision also has implications for around 400,000 other women’s cases across the country. We hope these councils now stop wasting money on lawyers’ fees and face up to their responsibilities to pay women fairly.”