Equal pay comparator

Case 4: The facts

In this case, which was part of a much larger equal pay action brought by more than 1,000 women against a local council, the Court of Appeal had to decide whether a woman can compare her pay with a man whose job has been rated lower than hers in a job evaluation scheme. Section 1(5) of the Equal Pay Act (EPA) says only that she must be paid the same as a man with whose job her job has been rated as equivalent.

The ruling

The court held that the comparison can be made if the man is paid more than the claimant. It said the EPA must be read in the context of European equal pay law, so section 1(5) should say that a woman’s job is rated as equivalent if it has been given an equal value “or has or would have been given a higher value”.

Redcar & Cleveland BC v Bainbridge & others [2007] EWCA Civ 910