Equal pay: Principle of equal pay applies to union training courses

An employer contravened the principle of equal pay for equal work contained in Article 141 of the Treaty of Rome when it paid a part-time employee who attended a full-time union training course her normal part-time pay rather than payment for the hours actually spent attending the course, holds the EAT in Davies v Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council 21.9.99 EAT 449/97. By analogy with the ruling of the European Court of Justice in Bötel, attendance on a trade union training course amounts to "work" within Article 141 because it arises by reason of an employment relationship and is safeguarding staff interests, which is ultimately beneficial to the employer.