Does Brennan mark the end of the bonus culture in local authorities? asks Daphne Romney QC
In Brennan v Sunderland City Council [2503297/08] the employment tribunal found that the bonuses paid to a number of men (in predominantly male jobs) were a sham.
Bonuses were being used as a way of paying a predominately male workforce more than women doing equivalent but different jobs in contravention of the Equal Pay Act 1970 (EPA 1970). Brennan is just the tip of the iceberg. Judgments have already been handed down in a number of key cases on the discriminatory impact of bonus schemes and many others claims are yet to be decided. Bonus culture in local authority pay bargaining has been rife.
Equal pay laws
Under EPA 1970, a woman can claim equal pay with a man where she works in the same employment as he does (or, under Art 141 EC, that their employment is regulated by a “Single Source”), and either:
l she does like work (s 1(2)(a));
l she does work rated as equivalent with a man under a job evaluation scheme (s 1(2)(b));
