One year after the Supreme Court ruled Employment Tribunal fees unlawful, thousands of claimants are still awaiting outstanding fees for their Employment Tribunal claims. This is a major issue, as the Ministry of Justice announced that these claims are on the rise with 9,252 claimants filing complaints against their employees, which is more than double the amount between October 2013 and June 2017.  

Currently, only £6.6 million out of £33 million has been refunded, which means 80% costs are still outstanding, which does not align with the government’s intentions back in October 2017, where they vowed to repay all fees immediately through their official refund programme.

Commenting on the refund programme, a representative from HM Courts and Tribunals Service stated that:

The most recent Equality Act was enforced in 2010, replacing previous legislation including the Equal Pay Act 1970. The Equality Act 2010 covers the equality of terms provisions to ensure that all men and women should receive equal pay when in similar roles.

Currently, there are issues for employees when comparing salary pay, as in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, employees are prohibited from discussing differences in pay with each other.

However, employees can compare their contract of employment with a comparator, which means an employee of the opposite sex with a similar role and equivalent terms. The equivalent terms can include the following:

Lloyds Banking Group is set to face up to £150 million after the high court rule for equality on pension schemes for both female and male employees.

The ruling comes after three of Lloyds’ female employees filed a claim against the banking group, in regard to their pension rates and the difference between their pension schemes and that of their male colleagues.

The case consisted of a dispute regarding employees who were entitled to a guaranteed minimum pension (GMP), which allows the employer and their staff to pay less in national insurance costs.

Morrisons has become the latest supermarket chain to come under fire regarding equal pay, which could result in the well-established company facing up to £1 billion worth of fines.

The London-based law firm, Leigh Day announced their intentions to submit a claim with the employment tribunal for eight of Morrison’s employees - mainly female - who are under the impression that they are being paid far less than employees located in Morrison’s warehouses, who are mostly male.

The law firm confirmed that their estimates of £1 billion stem from the additional employees who may potentially make a claim. As Morrisons currently has around 80,000 staff working in stores, who may have experience equal pay discrimination and will want to bring a claim against the retailer.

The NHS has recently come under fire regarding racial discrimination in relation to pay, as evidence showed that the salary of white senior consultants was almost £10,000 more than BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) doctors.

The study also showed that BME nurses and personnel staff were also being underpaid compared to their white comparators.

This information emerged in the British Medical Journal, in which Professor John Appleby, the director of research and chief economist at the Nuffield Trust thinktank, contributed to the study, stating: