A high profile case on Equal Value Pay (Abdullah –v- Birmingham City Council 2012) has recently opened up the opportunity for employees to claim, when originally they did not have the opportunity to claim. Due to this landmark decision the time for bringing a claim has been extended from 6 months to 6 years.
As a result of this some employers have been informing their staff that if they make a claim, then the money will come out of the pot for the services that they deliver. This has resulted in a large number of claimants being made to feel guilty for intimating a claim. An awful lot of the people who have legitimate claims work in the care industry or in education. These are vocational positions and the employers are yet again taking advantage of these staff.
We recently, spoke to a teaching assistant who has a legitimate Equal Value claim which probably runs into thousands of pounds. She was told by her employer that if she made a claim that the money would come out of the school’s budget and was warned that this would ultimately have an adverse affect on the children. This is effectively victimisation. Not only has the employer neglected to pay her fairly for a large number of years, but they are now emotionally blackmailing her.
This is morally wrong. These employees are both underpaid and undervalued and they are now being made to feel guilty for the errors of their employers.
Pay Justice is an organisation which was set up specifically to help employees and to ensure that employers treat their staff fairly.
If you feel you have Equal Value issues or have been treated in a similar way to prevent you making a legitimate claim, log onto www.payjustice.co.uk and let us help you.
Pay Justice is passionate about the fair treatment of employees.