Allonby v. Accrington and Rossendale College
Encyclopedia
Allonby v Accrington & Rossendale College (2004) C-256/01 is a European Union law
case concerning the right of men and women to equal pay for work of equal value under Article 141 of the Treaty of the European Community.
did not have their contracts renewed. They were rehired through an agency, ELS, and said to be "self employed independent contractors" under the new arrangement. They were denied access to the Teachers Superannuation Scheme. It was apparent that more of the part time lecturers were women than the staff that remained under permanent contracts with the college.
They brought a claim for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination. The Tribunal held that while there was no sex discrimination, there was an unfair dismissal. Lindsay J in the Employment Appeal Tribunal held there were sound business reasons for the change, given that the College was in financial trouble, and therefore objective justification of the disparate impact on women and no discrimination.
applying only to employees, workers and those personally performing work (which may have brought the outside the Act's protection) the lecturers did fall within the Community definition of worker.
However, while they fell within the category of "worker", their claim failed because she could not point to a comparator that came from the same "single source".
Yet the ECJ stated that the rule that only "employees" could join the Teachers' Superannuation Scheme could well be incompatible with Article 141. The rule would be incompatible and should be disapplied if it shown to have an adverse impact on more women than men. If it is disapplied, it is not necessary for the claimant to point to a comparator of the opposite sex working for the same employer who has been adversely affected by the rule.
European Union law
European Union law is a body of treaties and legislation, such as Regulations and Directives, which have direct effect or indirect effect on the laws of European Union member states. The three sources of European Union law are primary law, secondary law and supplementary law...
case concerning the right of men and women to equal pay for work of equal value under Article 141 of the Treaty of the European Community.
Facts
Part time lecturers at Accrington and Rossendale CollegeAccrington and Rossendale College
Accrington and Rossendale College is a further education college based in Accrington, Lancashire, England.- The College :Accrington & Rossendale College is an award winning further education College which specialises in vocational education....
did not have their contracts renewed. They were rehired through an agency, ELS, and said to be "self employed independent contractors" under the new arrangement. They were denied access to the Teachers Superannuation Scheme. It was apparent that more of the part time lecturers were women than the staff that remained under permanent contracts with the college.
They brought a claim for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination. The Tribunal held that while there was no sex discrimination, there was an unfair dismissal. Lindsay J in the Employment Appeal Tribunal held there were sound business reasons for the change, given that the College was in financial trouble, and therefore objective justification of the disparate impact on women and no discrimination.
Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal referred to the European Court of Justice for advice on the application of Art. 141. It held that the EAT failed to consider whether there could ever be a justification if the primary aim of the dismissal was discriminatory. Sedley LJ commented as follows, without saying whether the outcome would be favourable when it was reconsidered at tribunal, which would have to decide again on proportionate impact.European Court of Justice
The ECJ held that despite the contract saying they were self employed, and despite national legislation under the Equal Pay Act 1970Equal Pay Act 1970
The Equal Pay Act 1970 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which prohibits any less favourable treatment between men and women in terms of pay and conditions of employment. It was passed by Parliament in the aftermath of the 1968 Ford sewing machinists strike and came into force on 29...
applying only to employees, workers and those personally performing work (which may have brought the outside the Act's protection) the lecturers did fall within the Community definition of worker.
However, while they fell within the category of "worker", their claim failed because she could not point to a comparator that came from the same "single source".
Yet the ECJ stated that the rule that only "employees" could join the Teachers' Superannuation Scheme could well be incompatible with Article 141. The rule would be incompatible and should be disapplied if it shown to have an adverse impact on more women than men. If it is disapplied, it is not necessary for the claimant to point to a comparator of the opposite sex working for the same employer who has been adversely affected by the rule.
See also
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62000J0320:EN:NOTJudgment of the Court of 17 September 2002. A. G. Lawrence and Others v Regent Office Care Ltd, Commercial Catering Group and Mitie Secure Services Ltd. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Court of Appeal (England & Wales) (Civil Division) - United Kingdom. Principle of equal pay for men and women - Direct effect - Comparison of the work performed for different employers. Case C-320/00.]
- UK employment equality law
- Employment discrimination law in the United KingdomEmployment discrimination law in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom employment equality law is a body of law which legislates against prejudice-based actions in the workplace. As an integral part of UK labour law it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because they have one of the "protected characteristics", which are, age, disability,...
- Gender equalityGender equalityGender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
- List of gender equality lawsuits