UK News: Equal pay tribunals overwhelmed with claims

In Britain, the large numbers of women taking employers to equal pay tribunals has left the system under such strain that the head of the Equal Opportunities Commission says that a moratorium on claims is urgently needed.

Jenny Watson, outgoing Chairman of the Commission, stated that the 155% increase in the number of claims from 2005 to 2006 has left the system overburdened and in danger of collapse.

In part due to the advent of “no win, no fee” lawyers in 2003, the current upsurge in claims is mainly focused on pay discrepancies in local government, but Watson says that more of these lawsuits may soon be seen in the private sector.

Watson warns, “No one should be under any illusions that this growth in individual cases will stop here. When things move on in the public sector, no win, no fee lawyers will be looking for new business – and they are then likely to turn to the private sector.”

While few of the high-profile banking discrimination case judgements in the UK have favored the claimant in recent years, many claims are never made public, as they are settled before any hearing takes place. Many employers prefer to settle these claims on the eve of a hearing, often for substantial sums, to avoid bad publicity.

In an industry with notoriously opaque pay practices and “discretionary” bonus payouts, pay disparities in the finance world may well prove to be the next battleground for the lawyers in future.