What terms are covered by the sex equality clause? 



The equality clause applies to all monetary contract terms, not just wages. It includes, for example, the right to sick pay, bonus payments, overtime, shift payments, paid annual leave, mortgage interest allowance and special retirement privileges (such as travel concessions, pensions and redundancy pay), along with non-monetary contractual benefits, such as the right to a company car or access to sports and social benefits. 



Discretionary bonuses may be covered by the equality clause, but this depends on the way the discretion is framed. In Hoyland v Asda Stores Limited [2005] IRLR 438, the Court of Session decided that a discretionary Christmas bonus was covered by the EPA 70 (now the EA 10) as long as the discretion was as to how much bonus was to be paid each year, as opposed to whether to pay a bonus at all. Where a discretion is wholly non-contractual, giving the employer freedom to decide whether as well as how much to pay, the claimant should bring a sex discrimination claim under section 13 of the EA 10 (Hosso v European Credit Management [2012] ICR 547). The same is true of other non-contractual benefits, such as promotions, transfers and training and offers of employment or appointments to office (ECHR Code of Practice, para 8.70). Legal advice should be taken as early as possible.



Each term in the employment contract stands separately. In other words, an employer cannot justify one unequal term by saying that an employee benefited under a different term, or that taken together, the overall package is better than that of an equivalent man (St Helens & Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trusts v Brownhill [2011] EWCA Civ 903).