Male employee paid £1.50 less per hour than female colleagues wins equal pay claim

Equal pay for like work

This case shows that equal pay rights are not just for women. A male employee of Tricrest Homes Limited was paid £1.50 per hour less than two female colleagues who did the same job. Over 78 weeks, that added up to nearly £5,000 in lost wages. The tribunal found that a sex equality clause was implied into his contract, meaning he was entitled to the same rate as his female comparators.

Constructive dismissal

The employee resigned because of the pay disparity. The tribunal held that this was a fundamental breach of contract by the employer, making the resignation a constructive unfair dismissal. The employee did not need to find a new job to claim compensation; the award included a basic award of £1,286 and £500 for loss of statutory rights.

What the employer could have done differently

Tricrest Homes could have avoided this claim entirely by paying the employee the same rate as his female colleagues from the start. Even after the disparity was identified, the employer could have corrected the pay and avoided the constructive dismissal claim. The tribunal also noted that the employer owed 20 hours of holiday pay, suggesting wider payroll issues.

Why this matters

This case is a reminder that equal pay claims can succeed even when the claimant is male. The sex equality clause applies automatically to contracts where a worker of one sex is paid less than a worker of the opposite sex for equal work. Employees who discover such disparities should consider raising a grievance, but if the employer fails to address it, resignation may be a viable option.