Equal pay remedies 





Up to six years’ back pay plus interest can be recovered (section 132, EA 10). It often takes as long as four years for equal pay claims to be decided in the courts, and since any award dates from the date of issue of the claim, awards of back pay can sometimes cover as much as 10 years. 


Unlike a claim for sex discrimination, tribunals cannot make an award for injury to feelings in an equal pay claim.



In some very limited circumstances, tribunals can also order the employer to conduct an equal pay audit and to publish the results on its website. The penalty for non-compliance is a fine of up to £5,000, payable to the Treasury. The tribunal only has the power to order an audit if the woman has already won her equal pay claim. An equal pay audit is an audit “to identify action to be taken to avoid equal pay breaches occurring or continuing” (Equality Act 2010 (Equal Pay Audits) Regulations 2014 (EPAR14).





The EHRC has prepared an equal pay audit toolkit, available from their website. 





https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/how-implement-equal-pay