Claimant v Comfort Care Services UK Ltd (CCS)
Outcome
Individual claims
The claimant withdrew his ordinary unfair dismissal claim under the Employment Rights Act. The tribunal dismissed the claim on withdrawal.
The claimant withdrew his wrongful dismissal claim. The tribunal dismissed the claim on withdrawal.
The claimant withdrew his notice pay claim. The tribunal dismissed the claim on withdrawal.
The claimant withdrew his holiday pay claim. The tribunal dismissed the claim on withdrawal.
The tribunal found that the claimant was employed as a Band C Support Worker and his comparators were Band B Support Workers. Band B workers had more responsibilities, including periodic assessments, documentation duties, and more frequent liaison with stakeholders. The tribunal concluded the differences were of practical importance and the claimant was not employed on 'like work' with his comparators. The equal pay claim therefore failed.
Facts
The claimant was employed as a Support Worker at a care home from June 2020 to May 2022 on weekend and Friday evening shifts. In December 2021 he received a pay rise to £9.50/hour while two female colleagues received £10/hour. He brought an equal pay claim arguing he did like work to his comparators. The respondent argued the claimant was a Band C Support Worker (weekends/nights) while the comparators were Band B Support Workers (weekday evenings) with different and greater responsibilities.
Decision
The tribunal found that Band B Support Workers had significantly more responsibilities than Band C workers, including periodic assessments, more extensive documentation duties, and more frequent liaison with external stakeholders during normal business hours. These differences were of practical importance in relation to terms of work. The claimant was not employed on like work with his comparators and the equal pay claim failed.
Practical note
An equal pay claim will fail at the first hurdle if the tribunal finds differences in responsibilities between roles are of practical importance, even where the basic nature of the work is broadly similar.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 3323899/2021
- Decision date
- 6 November 2024
- Hearing type
- preliminary
- Hearing days
- 2
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- healthcare
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister
Employment details
- Role
- Support Worker
- Service
- 2 years
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No