Equal pay: Equal value

This section of the Discrimination Case Law Guide looks at the general principles of work of equal value in equal pay cases.

Scope for comparison
Job evaluation
     Burden of proof
     Work rated unequal
     Discriminatory evaluation

(2) An equality clause is a provision which relates to terms (whether concerned with pay or not) of a contract under which a woman is employed (the "woman's contract"), and has the effect that -

[(c) where a woman is employed on work which, not being work in relation to which paragraph (a) or (b) above applies, is, in terms of the demands made on her (for instance under such headings as effort, skill and decision), of equal value to that of a man in the same employment -

(i) if (apart from the equality clause) any term of the woman's contract is or becomes less favourable to the woman than a term of a similar kind in the contract under which that man is employed, that term of the woman's contract shall be treated as so modified as not to be less favourable, and

(ii) if (apart from the equality clause) at any time the woman's contract does not include a term corresponding to a term benefiting that man included in the contract under which he is employed, the woman's contract shall be treated as including such a term.]
Equal Pay Act - s.1

Commission of the European Communities v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [1982] IRLR 333 ECJ
Implementation of the EC Equal Pay Directive's principle of equal pay for work of equal value requires that where there is disagreement as to the application of that concept a worker must be entitled to claim before an appropriate authority that his work has the same value as other work and, if that is found to be the case, to have his rights under the EC Treaty and the Directive acknowledged by a binding decision.