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Police officers win equal pay battle

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Two female police officers have won a three-year equal pay battle in a case which could have far-reaching implications.

The case revolved around special allowances – Special Priority Payments – paid to officers who perform demanding roles by police forces throughout the country.

West Midlands Police made these payments to officers in a number of posts. In relation to frontline police constables – the posts held by Susan Blackburn and Victoria Manley – the payments were only made to officers who were available to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, what the force termed the ‘24/7’ requirement.

Officers Blackburn and Manley did not work overnight due to childcare responsibilities but said they still should be entitled to the allowance as their job was no less demanding than that of the officers who worked the night shift.

The Police Federation agreed and provided the financial support to enable the officers to take their case to a tribunal.

But the Chief Constable disagreed, saying the night shift was more demanding.

The employment tribunal agreed with the officers, saying there was no material difference between the work carried out at night and daytime activities, so the difference in treatment could not be justified.

Solicitor Juliette Franklin, from Russell Jones & Walker who acted for the officers, said: “This a hugely significant case which could have beneficial impact on the pay and conditions of thousands of female officers throughout the 43 police forces in England and Wales.

“The tribunal agreed that it cannot be right to deny women officers allowances, just because they agree different shift arrangements for childcare reasons, when they work just as hard as male officers and face the same dangers on a daily basis.

“If forces now choose to award allowances in a way that, on the face of it, discriminates against women, then the force concerned is going to have to demonstrate how it proposes to justify that decision.

“Similarly, on the face of it, there is no reason why male officers who cannot work nights for domestic reasons cannot claim pay equal to that of their female counterparts, subject of course to the circumstances of each case.”

West Midlands Police is considering whether to appeal.

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One Response

  1. Police win apparent discrimination claim
    This can only be an observation from afar, as I have not read the case at all………..but……….it seems on the surface that the Chief Constable did not prepare the case very well. Certainly in New Zealand, it would not be difficult at all to present details of the types of offences/sitations dealt with on night shift vs those dealt with on day shift, and in addition, to highlight the differences between working nights and days. As always, these decisions present problems for employers when cases are not properly prepared and therefore create a precedent that leaves others to challenge. If the UK sysem is similar to ours, then any appeal could bring additional evidence to that already presented, but not different evidence. Be interesting to see what transpires.

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