Simply.Law’s member employment solicitors can help businesses with all aspects of employment law, including equal pay claims, wage disputes and gender pay gap reporting rules.
Equal Pay legislation
Both men and women can bring equal pay claims against their employers.
In order to be able to make a successful equal pay claim against you and your business, an employee must be able to demonstrate that he or she has a comparator (colleague) of the opposite sex whose terms and conditions are different to theirs.
For the claim to have any chance of success, the comparator must be:
- Employed by you or an associate
- Performing a comparable role
As an employer, to be able to successfully defend a claim you must be able to demonstrate that the claimant performs a different role to the comparator – this means in actuality, based on the substance of their respective roles, rather than simply in job description.
You may also be able to defend the claim on the basis that work is not rated as equivalent or is not of equal value.
Defending a claim
An employer can successfully defend an equal pay claim if they can demonstrate that on the balance of probabilities any discrepancy in pay between the claimant and the comparator is because of justifiable reasons that have nothing to do with sex or gender – these are referred to as “material differences” or “material factors”.
Gender Pay Gap Reporting
New UK regulations mean that by April 2017 certain employers will be obliged to report any gender pay gap in their workforce – this has the potential to have a huge reputational, recruitment and legal impact for businesses.
Employers are advised to seek the advice of employment solicitors in relation to their obligations and preparations for the new regulations. Simply.Law’s member employment solicitors can help you with all aspects of your preparations and reporting obligations, including the implementation of an Equal Pay Review.
Employment advice for employers
Employment law is a constantly evolving area of practice and employers require authoritative and reliable advice to help them meet their obligations and objectives and to defend any Employment Tribunal claims made against them.
Simply.Law’s member employment solicitors can help you stay abreast of any changes and can help you protect your reputation and interests.
Contact Simply.Law today so that we can find you an expert member solicitor for fast, accurate advice on your employment law issues.
Simply.Law member lawyers – there to protect you and your business.
