Women set for big payouts in £10m equal wage ruling

HUNDREDS of women workers including classroom assistants, social care workers and cook supervisors, could be in line for huge payouts after a landmark equal pay ruling that could cost Edinburgh City Council more than £10 million.

The result of the test case brought by 54 women could mean individual pay-outs of up to 30,000 for hundreds of female white collar workers.

An employment appeal tribunal ruled the women's jobs could legitimately be compared to those of male manual workers for the purposes of equal pay.

The council had previously resisted such a comparison.

The judgment opens the way for hundreds of claims against the city council to be settled.

And public services union Unison estimates the Edinburgh decision will affect up to 70,000 workers across the UK.

Most equal pay claims for female manual workers, including cleaners, home carers and catering assistants, have now been settled by the city council at a cost of about 33m.

But women in former white collar grades stood to miss out if the comparison with male manual workers was not allowed.

An earlier employment tribunal had ruled in the women's favour, but the city council appealed against the decision. Now its arguments have been rejected by Lady Smith.

Sheila Weddell, a school cook supervisor from Leith, said she was relieved at the ruling.

"It's gone on for years," she said. "I and the other supervisors work shoulder to shoulder with the cooks, doing the same work. They've all got their pay-outs and it feels so unfair."

Carol Fox, director of Fox Cross Solicitors, who acted for the women, said: "This is a major victory for white collar workers who have equal pay claims which should have been settled alongside their colleagues. We have approached the council to open settlement discussions.

"This decision also has significant implications for all equal value claims in Scotland and where there are still issues in England, too."

She said any award would depend on an individual's hours, when they lodged their claim and other factors, but the overall bill could be about 10 million.

A council spokesman said: "This is an important decision which we will fully consider. It should be noted that the decision does not state that these workers have won, only that they have the right to make this claim."

The appeal tribunal ruling came as the council revealed it would force through its "modernising pay" changes which will affect 15,000 employees.

The move will lead to pay cuts of thousands of pounds for many staff members, Unison says.