Ireland's Labour Court made its biggest ever individual equal pay award recently when it held that four communications assistants represented by the Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU) and employed by the Irish Aviation Authority were entitled to equal pay with two male radio officers. The government department with overall responsibility for the Authority, the Department of Public Enterprise, has decided to accept the ruling, which was issued on 28 November 1997 and which means each of the four women will receive a total of IEP 100,000 on a backdated basis.
The Irish Government has decided not appeal against a record equal pay award of IEP 100,000 made in November 1997 to four women employed by the state-run Irish Aviation Authority, after the Labour Court determined that they had been discriminated against on grounds of sex.
Ireland's Labour Court made its biggest ever individual equal pay award recently when it held that four communications assistants represented by the Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU) and employed by the Irish Aviation Authority were entitled to equal pay with two male radio officers. The government department with overall responsibility for the Authority, the Department of Public Enterprise, has decided to accept the ruling, which was issued on 28 November 1997 and which means each of the four women will receive a total of IEP 100,000 on a backdated basis.
In the case, six employees - four female and two male - were engaged on like work, but the males occupied two radio officer posts in the accounts section and were paid the radio officer rate of pay. while the communications assistants received a lesser rate. The Labour Court noted that medical evidence showed that the two male radio officers had a medical condition which made them unfit for shiftwork, which was why they were placed in the accounts section. However, the Court found that the defence of this "red circling" - a term used to describe a situation where the rate of pay and conditions of an individual are protected - on grounds of unsuitability for shiftwork was put forward by management: "in an attempt to justify the position of the particular (male) comparators in this case, but.... the real reason for the differential in pay is that the radio officers are male and the communications assistants are female."
The Labour Court, therefore, refused to accept the argument that the positions of the two male radio officers were "red circled" on health grounds and determined that the four females were entitled to the same rate of remuneration with effect from 27 April 1989.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), Government accepts record equal pay award, article.
