Women and men should be paid equally for doing equal work. Equal pay law is in place to stop sex discrimination in pay and other contractual terms and conditions of employment.

Rights to equal pay cover all workers from their first day of employment.  It does not matter whether you work full or part-time, whether you are on a casual or temporary contract or whether you are an apprentice - you still have a right to equal pay for equal work.  Equal pay law also includes those who have been told they are self-employed but in fact do work personally for someone else and are not doing it for a client or customer as part of their profession or business.  For example, this will cover many agency workers and homeworkers, apprentices and trainees.

Generally speaking, it is women who earn less than men for doing equal work so the rest of this factsheet assumes that the person affected is a woman.

Equal pay covers all of your contractual rights affecting your pay package.  So it will cover your basic pay or salary and also others parts of your pay package such as holiday pay, sick pay, occupational pension, shift pay, performance or profit based pay and overtime.  However, you may have other terms and conditions which include pay but which are not contractual eg. pay rises or bonuses which are paid at the discretion of your employer.  These are not covered by equal pay law but you may have rights under the Sex Discrimination Act on these issues.  You should get advice from Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service or any of the organisations listed at the end of this leaflet if you are in this situation.  For information on other sex discrimination matters see our “Sex Discrimination” factsheet.

Claiming your right to equal pay

To claim equal pay you have to:

• identify a worker of the opposite sex (known as the comparator) who is paid more than you and
• who is doing equal work and
• who is in the same employment.

Same employment means that when taking an equal pay claim you must compare yourself to a man who works:

• for the same employer at your workplace or
• for the same employer but he actually works at a different workplace or
• for an associated employer (eg. where your comparator works for your employer's parent company) or
• in the same service (eg. where you work for an NHS Trust and your comparator works for a different NHS Trust)

Showing equal work

You can compare your work to that done by a male comparator in the same employment where you are doing:

• the same or broadly similar work (known as like work)
• work rated as equivalent under a job evaluation scheme
• work which is different but of equal value (in terms of the demands of the job such as effort, skill, responsibility and decision making).

Like work

Like work is where you are doing the same or broadly similar work to your comparator.  Examples of like work include women and men shop assistants working in different sections of the same department store, or women and men doing the same job in a warehouse.  Like work is the simplest type of equal pay claim.

Work rated as equivalent

You are also entitled to equal pay if you do a job, which even though it is different from that being done by a man, has been given an equal rating with a man’s job under an “analytical” job evaluation study (JES).  “Analytical” means that the jobs have been assessed by being broken down into the basic demands that they require of workers, such as skill, responsibility and knowledge.  An example of a JES that is not “analytical” is one where the jobs have been assessed as a whole without being broken down into their component parts.  To be valid the JES must have been agreed by you and your employer.  If a JES has rated your job and a job done by a man the same then you should get equal pay, and if you do not you can argue that your job has been “rated as equivalent”.

If a JES is already in place and has rated your job lower than the man with whom you are claiming equal pay then you can only succeed in your claim if you can show that the JES is irrational or discriminatory on the ground of sex.

Work of equal value

Equal value means where you are doing a job which is different to that of your comparator but is equal in terms of the demands of the jobs.  The law does not give much guidance on what is meant by demands but does give examples of particular demands such as “effort”, “skill” or “decision”.  This does not mean that these are the only demands that should be looked at to work out if you are doing work of equal value.  Other demands include “responsibility” or “knowledge”.

Examples of successful equal value claims are:

• women checkout assistants in a supermarket comparing their pay with men working in the warehouse
• women packers comparing their work to male labourers
• a woman cook comparing her work with a joiner, a painter and a thermal insulation engineer.

Enforcing your rights

The right to equal pay is a statutory right.  If your employer refuses to give you equal pay you should first of all send your employer a grievance letter; see our factsheet on Grievances for guidance on this.

You can exercise your rights to equal pay at any time while you are doing the job to which the claim relates, or within six months if you have left that job.  If you win your claim you will get equal pay and a maximum of six years’ arrears of back pay.

If you think you have been discriminated against by being paid unequally you should get advice about your rights.  Sex discrimination law gives you a specific right to ask your employer questions about your situation.  This is a good way of getting more information from your employer and working out whether you are in a strong position to take a claim or negotiate with your employer.  For help doing this please contact one of the advice agencies listed at the end of this factsheet.

Victimisation

Sex discrimination law also protects you against being victimised because you have argued for equal pay, taken an equal pay claim to a tribunal or have supported someone else in your workplace who is claiming equal pay.  If you believe you are being victimised in this way then you should send a grievance letter to your employer first of all;  see our factsheet Grievances for guidance about doing this.

This factsheet is a general guide only and not a statement of the law. You should take advice before taking action.

Getting help

Enforcing your rights to equal pay and taking a claim can be complicated and take a long time.  Besides us there are other organisations who can give you more information, support and advice.

Trade unions have won many equal pay claims for their members.  If you are not a member of a union then contact the North West TUC for information on which union to join. Tel: 0151 236 5432.

Equalities and Human Rights Commission can offer you information and advice on identifying whether you have a claim, how to take it forward and get information from your employer, how to take a claim to tribunal and, in limited circumstances, provide you with legal representation.  Tel: 08456 04 66 10 or visit their website at www.equalityhumanrights.com

Law centres and Citizens’ Advice Bureaux give free advice and support and may be able to represent you at tribunal.  Contact Community Legal Services (CLS) on 08456 08 11 22 for your nearest one.

CLS Direct can also advise you on your rights on 08453 45 43 45

ACAS provides basic information about your rights; 08457 47 47 47