Birmingham City Council reaches agreement on equal pay claims

BIRMINGHAM City Council and the joint trade unions have reached an agreement to settle equal pay claims brought by mainly women who took legal action against the authority because they were not paid as much as men for doing the same job.

The council said the agreement would avoid lengthy and costly employment tribunals affecting approximately 11,000 cases. It said these could have continued for several more years further delaying payments to employees.

In a statement, the council said the individuals concerned would be receiving a letter from solicitors Thompsons in the near future.

The local authority has also sought an application to postpone the related Employment Tribunal hearing in relation to the matter, which was due to start on Monday.

The council has been forced to set aside at least £757m from its budget to settle the pay claims, following a ruling late last year.

In a test case, 174 women won a ruling at the Supreme Court over the unfair pay.

The £757m will make a massive dent in the council’s plans to cut public spending. It was already burdened by having to make cuts of £600m in order to balance its books and in January it admitted it may be faced with a shortfall of around £200m.