Alabaster V Woolwich Summary

Before an employee can take forth their challenge for equal pay, as established in the case of Alabaster v Woolwich, There must be a comparator of the opposite sex. Although there can be no grounds for a sex discriminatory claim with a hypothetical comparator , the European court does permit the applicant the right to compare oneself with their predecessor in accordance with the EC Treaty. By referring to the coursework question, it is highly suggested that Lucy has a male competitor in the form of her predecessor, this being Tim.
According to the Equality Act 2010, both male and females contracts should be the identical if they are carrying out the same work. However if terms are less favourable compared to a man’s contract then this …show more content…
It does not matter whether the woman employed does not have one written in the contract already as they shall be deemed to have one under s66 of the Equality Act. One way which a female employee can claim for equal pay is if she is employed to do similar work as a man, at the same establishment, or at an establishment where similar terms and conditions are applied yet is paid less. The sex equality clause operates when a woman is employed on ‘Like work’ which is defined as when work will be the same if not broadly similar . Also, should there be any differences between the role of the woman and the male comparator it has to be of no practical importance to qualify as ‘like work’ finding . Alternatively, if her work was different to that of the male comparator the work could still be rated as equivalent in terms of skill, effort and decision making . When completing work of equal value under the same employer both male and female must have equal pay . However in this case, Tim never worked with Lucy at the same time under the same employment therefore this would not be the most likely criteria. As there is no question that Lucy’s work is the same, seeing as she took over the managerial spot that Tim presided in, her claim for equal pay would fit into the criteria of ‘like …show more content…
This occurs when an individual is being treated the same as everyone else, however, due to either wage policy or system has a worse effect compared to the male comparator . This can relate to Lucy as she does not state that she is being treated differently to her workers, however it effects Lucy as she is not receiving the same pay as Tim. However there is a practice that the employer can apply to the situation to prove if it is or is not indirect discrimination, this is known as ‘disparate impact’. There are four constituents to make an indirect discrimination claim, these being; a practice must have been applied, specific group disadvantage must be established, disadvantage to claimant must be recognised and the employer must show that the practice was not impartial . In this case Lucy may have to claim for indirect