Rochdale Council taking action on equal pay

Date published: 28 November 2006

Rochdale Council has become one of the first authorities in the North West to offer equal pay settlements to its employees.

The move follows action by councils in other parts of the country that were required to compensate workers for potential pay inequalities as part of legal action relating to equal pay for work of equal value.

A decision has now been taken to pay settlements to a small number of staff where it is reasonable to do so and the first group of staff affected will be paid their cheques this week.

'No win, no fee' lawyers are known to be operating in Rochdale but so far the majority of Council staff have decided to wait to see what the Council is prepared to offer rather then take legal action.

Head of People Management Stephen Harper said: "The Council is strongly committed to equal pay and we have made significant progress in this area.  We are working hard on this issue and are now in a position to offer some of our staff a guaranteed one-off settlement where it is reasonable to do so.  We will be contacting other staff who might be eligible in due course.

"We are aware that 'no win, no fee' lawyers are out there but whereas they charge a fee with no guarantee of success, we are able to offer our staff a guaranteed one-off payment, paid promptly and with the tax and National Insurance paid by the Council.

"So far we have had a positive response from the majority of staff that we have been in contact with about this.  On balance, most realise that a guaranteed payout now is far better than a non-guaranteed payment years down the line."

Borough Solicitor Catherine Witham said: "Where staff choose to take action instead of settlement, the Council intends vigorously to defend claims made against it."