Equal Pay Claims UK: Tribunal Rights & Process

Overview

An equal pay claim is a legal complaint brought by an employee who believes they are receiving less favourable contractual terms than a colleague of the opposite sex doing equal work. 'Pay' here is read broadly: it covers your base salary, but also overtime rates, bonuses, pension contributions, shift allowances, holiday entitlement, company cars, and most other benefits tied to your contract. The governing legislation in England, Wales and Scotland is the Equality Act 2010, which consolidated earlier equal pay law into a single framework.

The Act works by reading a 'sex equality clause' into every employment contract, which effectively rewrites any term that is less favourable than a comparator's to match theirs. Equal pay is distinct from a general sex discrimination claim: it focuses specifically on contractual pay and benefits, and requires you to point to a real person of the opposite sex whose work is the same, rated as equivalent, or of equal value to yours. Claims are usually heard in the employment tribunal.

Key steps

1. Gather information about your own pay and role. Before anything else, get clear on exactly what you earn and what you do. Pull together recent payslips, your contract of employment, any bonus letters, pension statements, and your job description. Note your responsibilities, reporting lines, qualifications, and years of service, because all of these may matter when comparing your role to someone else's. 2. Identify a suitable comparator. Equal pay claims rely on naming a real colleague of the opposite sex whose work is the same as yours, has been rated as equivalent under a job evaluation scheme, or is of equal value in terms of effort, skill, and decision-making. The comparator usually needs to work for the same employer or an associated one. Hypothetical comparators are generally not enough for equal pay, though they can feature in wider discrimination claims. 3. Ask questions and build evidence. You can write to your employer asking for information about pay structures, bonus criteria, and how roles are graded. Many employers also publish gender pay gap reports if they have 250 or more employees. Keep copies of everything: emails, written responses, policies, and any informal comments about pay. Evidence of the gap itself and of why it might exist is central to a successful claim. 4. Raise it internally first where possible. Most employers will expect you to use the grievance procedure before matters escalate, and tribunals look more favourably on claimants who have tried to resolve things in-house. Put your concern in writing, reference the comparator and the work you do, and ask for a specific response. Sometimes a pay review or adjustment follows without the need for a claim. 5. Notify ACAS and consider tribunal proceedings. If internal steps do not resolve it, you must contact ACAS to begin Early Conciliation before lodging a claim. Strict time limits apply, generally six months from the end of the employment contract for equal pay, so do not delay. If conciliation does not settle the dispute, you can submit an ET1 claim form to the employment tribunal.