Warning over pay claims 'time bomb'

Mar 11 2009

Councils could face a bill of up to £1 billion to settle the ongoing dispute over equal pay claims, MSPs have heard.

Union chiefs called on a Holyrood committee to step in and help "get a grip" on the looming financial timebomb - ten years after a deal was first reached in Scotland on equal pay. But one former Scottish Government minister voiced concerns that the situation is "intractable".

Tribunals are dealing with more than 35,000 cases of mainly women seeking compensation after years of being paid less than men for doing the same job.