An Employment Appeals Tribunal recently held in Sodexho v Gutridge that employers could be held liable for up to six years of unequal pay claims. The EAT ruled that when an employee is employed changes employment, then under TUPE, the right to equal pay also transfers to the organisation taking on the member of staff.
The practical effect of this ruling is that where employers are taking over the provision of a service that was previously provided by another organisations they need to be aware of the pay levels of employees who remained at the transferor’s organisation. Employees are allowed to claim for up to six years worth of back payments to make amends for pay inequality.