Is this indirect sex discrimination?

[LaDiDaDi]

I work for an employer that has a number of part-time employees (almost entirely women) most of who are initially employed full-time then are granted flexible working arrangements later, usually after having children and returning from mat. leave. The employer has a policy of initially starting flexible workers on the most basic salary point that they can then working out what you should be paid and eventually giving you back pay. For me and a colleague this has gone on for so long that we were each at one point owed approx £4000 in back pay which put us in a difficult position financially.

I suspect that we are not the only ones to have experienced problems with claiming back pay that is due and I also have issue with being put on the lowest salary point initially as the very vast majority of us are on a higher point/band. As nearly all of the flexible workers are female I think that it amounts to indirect sex discrimination but I want others views before I challenge the employer.

Thanks

It doesn't sound like sex discrimination if they are also doing it to the men.

It does sound like unlawful deductions from wages though unless you agreed to a drop in waged as part of the flex request or indeed discrim against part time workers.

Grevling - with indirect discrimination it doesn't matter if they are also doing it to the men - the policy is more likely to affect women negatively. It seems a very odd policy - why can't they just work out what you should be getting paid in the first place?

My employer needs to receive details of our exact hours from the base unit in which we work. This varies slightly every six months but would still usually fall into the same band. They pay at the lowest point until the base unit confirm the hours. Often the base unit do not confirm the hours until they have started to be worked iyswim.

So when people are granted flexible working their wages are cut back to where they started?

That can't be legal surely?

Just seen your second post I misunderstood.

I don't think it's sexual discrimination - as it is not entirely limited to one gender. Withholding pay is disgraceful and should be challenged!

You're not a medic in the Northern deanery are you? Sadly it is not sex discrimination (we have tried that one and discussed with BMA) as any men who are LTFT (and there are a few across the specialities) are treated the same.

It is a disgrace. I have been lucky in that I expected this to happen, budgeted accordingly and had departments that could get the rota out in time for me to only miss a month at the correct pay. In my speciality we did get a lady in HR who started to get things sorted in time, but like all decent HR people who work for the Deanery, she rapidly moved on to better pastures.

I do think that it needs a case where someone threatens small claims court...

How did you guess? When did you discuss with Bma, was it recently?

Hoping for a permanent job soon so it should be the end of it for me but still unfair for everyone else.