Your rights: equal pay for work of equal value
You have a right not to be paid less than other work colleagues because of your sex, where the work is different but is of equal value in terms of the demands of the job. This is called ‘work of equal value’.
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What does equal value mean?
The Equal Pay Act describes equal value in terms of the demands of jobs. It gives 'effort, skill and decision' as examples of particular demands. This does not mean that these are the only demands that should be looked at to determine equal value. The individual components of each job will need to be assessed. What matters are the demands made on employees by their work, rather than the value of the work to the employer.
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Which jobs have been found to be of equal value?
Tribunals have found a number of jobs to be of equal value. In one case the work of a cook was found to be of equal value to the work done by a joiner, a painter and a thermal insulation engineer. In another, women employed as packers were doing work of equal value to that done by a labourer. Several female sewing machinists in the furniture manufacturing industry have successfully compared their work to that done by male upholsterers, and female speech therapists have won equal value claims comparing themselves with male pharmacists and occupational psychologists.
It is important to remember that tribunals determine each case on its own facts. A decision in one case, whether favourable or unfavourable, does not automatically determine the outcome in other cases where similar jobs are being compared.
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