Yesterday, 174 employees successfully argued that they could launch equal pay claims against their employer Birmingham City Council in the civil courts, on the basis of a breach of the equality clause. Jawaid Rehman, Associate Solicitor at national law firm Weightmans LLP explains.

This landmark Supreme Court judgment has potentially huge implications for Local Authorities and other employers. As a result of this judgment, individuals who find out that their ex-colleagues have been successful in equal pay claims or have received equal pay compensation, even well after their employment has ended or after they have transferred to a new employer under TUPE, can now pursue their former employers in the civil courts.

Local Authorities may have believed that they would be safe from additional equal pay claims as a result of the expiration of a 6 month time limit,  but this judgment significantly extends the time limit in which an individual may seek a remedy for equal pay within the civil courts.

Some local authorities have already faced equal pay liabilities reaching hundreds of millions of pounds.  Only time will tell how many employees will now add to the mass of equal pay claims as a result of this judgment.

However, one deterrent for employees who may be encouraged to issue such claims in the civil courts is that civil claims are much more complex and time consuming compared to Tribunal proceedings. Perhaps more important, claimants could also face significant costs implications if their claims are unsuccessful. In the Employment Tribunal costs awards are relatively rare; this has historically given rise to mass (and sometimes speculative) litigation.