NHS trusts ‘are wasting money on employment law disputes’

Posted 04/01/2010

The NHS has been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money on legal efforts to deny female workers the equal pay to which they are entitled under employment law.

Public sector union Unison has described the conduct of several trusts as a “travesty” after revealing that many health bodies are spending millions to combat equal salary claims in court.

The workers’ body particularly condemned the North Cumbria NHS Trust, which has used a total of £3.3 million on legal challenges of this kind.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis described this practice as harmful to fairness and equality in the workplace, as well as being akin to “pouring money down the drain”.

He added that it was unacceptable for the NHS to “spend so much taxpayers’ money on resisting fair wages for women nearly 40 years after the Equal Pay Act”.

In November, a British Medical Association-backed report was published which revealed that significant salary discrepancies exist between male and female doctors working for the NHS.