Equal pay

Q: We have a female member who is being paid less than a male colleague even though both are on the same grade following a job evaluation process. The employer says it does not have to pay her equal pay because it has a "material factor defence". What does this mean?

A: If a woman's work is rated as equivalent to a man's under a job evaluation scheme and she is paid less than him, she is entitled to bring a claim under the Equal Pay Act 1970.

However, an employer has a defence to an equal pay claim if it can show that the difference in pay is due to a "genuine material factor" that is unrelated to the sex of the worker and her comparator.

This is what is called a "material factor defence". Examples of material factors include a difference in qualifications/experience, a geographical difference (because London weighting is paid, say) or "market forces" (where a shortage of suitably qualified workers for certain posts leads the employer to pay more for a particular vacancy, for instance).

The material factor put forward must be unrelated to sex - so, for example, if "market forces" devalue some jobs because they are traditionally done by women, this is not a valid defence as it is based on sex discrimination.