Dumfries and Galloway equal pay case victory - BBC News
Dec 10, 2018It was pursuing the claim for Dumfries and Galloway Council female staff including nursery nurses and support for learning and classroom assistants.It argued their terms and conditions should be in line with male manual workers like refuse collectors.The Supreme Court found in their favour and referred the case back to an employment tribunal.It will now decide if the women's work should considered equivalent to the men's.More than 200 equal pay claims were brought on behalf of classroom assistants, support for learning assistants and nursery nurses working at schools in Dumfries and Galloway.AnalysisBy Reevel AldersonHome affairs correspondent, BBC ScotlandThis is a highly technical ruling -which Unison has hailed as an historic equal pay victory.A total of 251 workers, mainly female, working in Dumfries and Galloway as classroom assistants and nursery nurses claimed their pay conditions should be the same as in predominantly male occupations such as refuse collectors and groundsmen.The men get a supplement to their basic pay; the classroom assistants do not.An employment tribunal said it could look at the issue, but the council appealed against that decision in a case finally concluded today at the UK Supreme Court.Judges there ruled the tribunal can, after all, make a decision, although it will be some time before it will hear the case.Unison said the Supreme Court ruling could cost councils across Scotland £12m in compensation payments.Dumfries and Galloway says it will consider its response.They are seeking the same treatment as male manual workers such as leisure attendants, road workers, groundsmen, refuse drivers and collectors working at local depots and swimming pools.The female staff are employed on conditions set out in a what is known as the Blue Book while their male counterparts have a Green Book.The latter allows for bonus payments and pay supplements while the former does not.An employment tribunal allowed the claim to proceed but an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) overtur...