NLC Update (06/07/15)

I was not able to attend Friday's reconvened Employment Tribunal hearing which considered the outstanding Equal Value claims against North Lanarkshire Council.

Daphne Romney QC, the leading barrister representing A4ES clients was present, however, along with Fox and Partners Solicitors.

North Lanarkshire is still disputing the male comparators claimed by A4ES clients which are detailed in a previous post to the blog site dated 27 May 2015.

The Council's position is that the work done by the female jobs which cover Sheltered Housing Wardens, Clerical Assistants and Classroom Assistants are not of equal value to the jobs done by the male workers grades which are Refuse Collectors and Gardeners.

In the case of Classroom Assistants the difference is only 1 single point with the NLC Gardener grade used as a comparator, yet still the Council refuses to accept that the jobs concerned are of equal value, despite the fact that the NLC job evaluation scheme (JES) has been heavily criticised previously at the ongoing Employment Tribunal.

In fact the all too obvious failings with the JES led forced North Lanarkshire Council to accept that the female dominated jobs of Home Support Workers, Playground Supervisors and School Crossing Patrollers had all been incorrectly graded.

So the upshot is that the Employment Tribunal has been continued to the 17th and 18th of August 2015 where these outstanding issues will considered again in detail by the Employment Tribunal.     

I imagine that the women workers involved must feel deeply insulted by the Council's behaviour and its stubborn insistence that Sheltered Housing Wardens and Clerical Assistants are not of Equal Value to a Refuse Collector and that a Classroom Assistant's job  is not worth the same as a Council Gardener.