Working Theory

by Michael Reed

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I do employment law for the Free Representation Unit.

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michael at workingtheory.co.uk

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Outstanding Equal Pay Claims

24 August 2011

There are interesting tidbits of tribunal statistics in Hansard.

For example, on 31st January 2011, Jonathan Djanogly MP, Under-Secretary of State, MoJ answered a written question from Fiona Mactaggart MP about how many equal pay cases from previous years remained in the tribunal system.1

The figures reflect what we already knew: that many Equal Pay claims are large and complicated, so they take time to resolve.

What the statistics clarify is just how long it can take. About a third of claimants from 2000-1 were still waiting for a resolution about a decade later.

In fairness, 2000-1 does seem to have been a particularly difficult year. Most of the claims brought between 2001 and 2005 have been resolved.

Even so, the half-life of an Equal Pay Claim seems to be about 5 years – at that point you have about a 50% chance of having won, lost, settled or withdrawn. While that is a lot better than ten years, it is still a long time to be involved in something as stressful and difficult as litigation.

  1. Hansard 31 Jan 2011: Column 576W 

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