WOMEN who take time off to have children may be entitled to equal pay with men on schemes linking earnings to length of service, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.
Christine Wilson, from Chester, and an inspector with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), brought a case against her employer claiming its pay agreement s linking pay to length of service for up to 10 years was unfair.
The HSE’s agreement with its employees meant three male colleagues on the same level as Mrs Wilson were paid more than her for doing equivalent work.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission argued that linking pay to length of service often disadvantages women who take time out to raise children.
Three appeal judges found that, although employers do not generally have to justify schemes linking length of service to pay, they will have to if there is evidence this is having a disproportionate impact on women.
