CIPD response to Unisonís 300m equal pay court victory over the NHS

Duncan Brown, Assistant Director General of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, responding to the announcement that Unison has secured 300 million in compensation for women working for the North Cumbria Acute NHS Trust after an eight year legal battle to secure equal pay, said:

For the NHS, this case is a verdict on history, not a reflection of modern day realities. Five years development of a new and robust job evaluation scheme, currently being implemented as part of their Agenda for Change, should prevent the health service from suffering this kind of expensive embarrassment in the future.

Under Agenda for Change total NHS pay costs will increase by around 5%, but for many of these traditionally underpaid groups the increases will be far greater.

CIPD research shows that nearly half of employers have no intention of carrying out an equal pay audit. These employers may need to sit up and take note of this case, which demonstrates the costs of not implementing the kind of root and branch reform that the NHS has already undertaken to eliminate discrimination in pay structures.

Employers should also be aware that, although this case has taken eight years and much blood, sweat and tears to reach a conclusion, the Government is already implementing reforms to speed the passage of such cases in the future.