Sheffield Council Faces Mass Equal Pay Claim Over Job Evaluation Scheme

[Mister M]

Thousands of women who have been underpaid by up to £11,000 a year set to launch claim against Sheffield Council:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/25/sheffield-council-faces-mass-equal-pay-claim-over-scandalous-pay-grades

 

Could what happened in Birmingham happen in Sheffield too?

Edited September 25, 2023 by Mister M

[HeHasRisen]

Given this is what essentially bankrupted Birmingham, good luck everyone.

[Pyrotequila]

I don't quite get the story, they seem to be comparing different jobs and using that as a basis for unequal pay?

 

Quote

The GMB union said cleaners are grade 1 while caretakers are grade 3, translating to a pay difference of £1,710 a year. It added that senior teaching assistants are grade 5, while night noise officers are grade 7, resulting in an annual pay difference of £11,383.

 

[HeHasRisen]

1 minute ago, Pyrotequila said:

I don't quite get the story, they seem to be comparing different jobs and using that as a basis for unequal pay?

 

 

Think the claim is that cleaner (jobs usually done by women) and caretaker (jobs usually done by men) are essentially the same job. Quite frankly this is a load of rubbish. 

Edited September 25, 2023 by HeHasRisen

[Pyrotequila]

3 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Think the claim is that cleaner (jobs usually done by women) and caretaker (jobs usually done by men) are essentially the same job. Quite frankly this is a load of rubbish. 

But surely in this age of equal opportunity, anyone can apply for any job?
So wouldn't it be the fault of the claimants for not wanting to do the other job?

[HeHasRisen]

3 minutes ago, Pyrotequila said:

But surely in this age of equal opportunity, anyone can apply for any job?
So wouldn't it be the fault of the claimants for not wanting to do the other job?

Exactly, so if thats the only basis they have here the whole thing is ludicrous. 

[geared]

There were problems in Birmingham where certain jobs done by mostly men were getting bonus payments but the female jobs were not, the council couldn't give a good explanation why this was the case.

[Anna B]

Women's work has always been undervalued and this continues. 

In spite of endless legislation, women still only earn approx 75% of the male wage, and still do most of the housework and caring duties.

 

[HeHasRisen]

Just now, Anna B said:

Women's work has always been undervalued and this continues. 

 

 

Does it?

 

Whats stopping a woman applying for a caretakers job? Conversely, whats stopping a man applying for a cleaning job? Are the two jobs likely the same? Absolutely not.

 

If the whole basis of this claim is what @Pyrotequila snipped out of the article above, the whole thing is ludicrious.

[wotnot]

It's not so easy to work in a field where you don't fit in. For one thing, the banter isn't going to be the same.

There are two ways to achieve gender equality in pay, and increasing pay for women is only one of them. I hope the outcome won't be that caretakers gradually end up being paid less relative to the managers, bureaucrats, etc.

Don't know how you measure the difference in the work demands of cleaning versus caretaking. At the end of the day that will either be settled out of court or decided by a judge. It's interesting that female applicants for law degrees outnumber male applicants two to one. In the future will there be gender balance among senior legal professionals?