Sex Discrimination Claims Double

Employment Tribunal claims of sex discrimination have almost doubled in the last year, but one Cumbria lawyer says that doesn’t necessarily mean that women have suddenly taken a huge step backwards in the workplace.

Joanne Stronach is a Partner in the Employment Law department of Burnetts Solicitors in Carlisle, Cumbria. She says the 155% increase in equal pay claims is one of the main causes for the rise in sex discrimination cases.

Joanne said, “This is the second year there has been a big rise in equal pay claims and that has a knock-on effect on other types of claims because you would normally see a number of complaints raised in the one claim. These equal pay claims are being made in bulk mostly by women against big public sector employers like councils and NHS trusts.”

In 2006/07 there was a 15% increase overall in claims to the Employment Tribunal. There were 28,153 claims of sex discrimination, compared with 14,250 the previous year. Meanwhile, there were 44,013 equal pay claims, compared with 17,268 in 2005/06. Overall, there were 132, 577 claims. Equal pay is now the second biggest cause of complaint behind unfair dismissal.

Joanne said, “There hasn’t been any change in the law to trigger these claims, but trade unions, in particular, have identified that there have been some genuine, long-standing inequalities in pay. They are now giving a lot of support to people who want to bring claims while some solicitors are offering no win, no fee representation. That means fewer cases are being settled pre-hearing and more are going to a full Tribunal. Employers should be very careful to ensure men and women are treated equally and that pay scales are fair.”

For further information on employment law, contact Joanne Stronach on 01228 552222 or visit Burnetts' employment law pages.

17th September, 2007

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For further media information contact Angela Huck on 01228 552222.

Note to editor:

The latest statistics are available from The Tribunals Service. 

Burnetts is Cumbria’s largest legal firm. The six-strong employment law team is headed by John Morris, Chair of the Law Society’s Employment Law Committee.