Equal pay landmark

Hundreds of women have been granted leave to bring equal pay claims dating back six years, in a landmark Supreme Court judgment.

Ruling in Birmingham City Council v Abdulla & Ors [2012] UKSC 47, the court held that equal pay cases can be heard in the civil courts, where the time limit is six years, rather than the employment tribunal, where the time limit is six months.

Leigh Day & Co partner Chris Benson, who acted for the women, says the judgment effectively extends the time limit for equal pay claims, and is the biggest change to equal pay legislation since it was introduced in 1970.

The women say that they were employed on work rated as equivalent with that of their male comparators, but that their contracts did not provide for the substantial bonuses and other additional payments that were given to the men.

The case centred on the interpretation of s 2(3) of  the Equal Pay Act 1970 (EPA 1970), under which claims can be struck out by the courts if they can be “more conveniently disposed of separately by an employment tribunal”.

Lord Wilson, delivering the lead judgment, held that the courts should not strike out equal pay claims if they would be out of time in the employment tribunal.

His reasons were that EPA 1970 has no provision for the time limit to be extended at the discretion of the court or tribunal, and s 2(4) is worded so as to suggest equal pay claims in the employment tribunal are exempt from time limits.

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson says: “Equal pay litigation until now has always been pursued in employment tribunals, as these tribunals are experienced and specifically trained in dealing with such claims. In addition, there are very limited situations where costs follow the losing party, whereas in the civil court costs almost always follow the losing party.”