More than 250 former Wolverhampton council workers are claiming £4 million in back pay under the controversial single status agreement, the Express & Star can reveal.
The shock figure is four times higher than first feared, and emerged after a London-based legal firm was besieged by phone calls from ex-staff wanting to make a claim. The disgruntled old workers, many of them former Wolverhampton cleaners and dinner ladies, are planning to take the authority to court in order to claim the cash.
The council agreed a policy at the start of the year pledging to pay out awards of up to £32,000 to anyone with a rightful claim, but former workers who failed to submit one within six months of leaving were barred from applying.
The law firm claimed today that the process was flawed, and that a successful court challenge could open the floodgates.
Chris Benson, from Leigh Day & Co, said: “We think it is unfair that a worker could have spent 20 years missing out on bonuses and then be denied compensation on a technicality.
“This six-month period was created because it’s the cut-off point for industrial tribunals, but their discrimination is a fundamental breach of contract, and cases like these can be brought within six years of leaving.”
The letter is being sent to the council confirming that a lawsuit will be made. It will cause a major headache for the ruling Tory-Liberal Democrat alliance, which is under huge financial strain already.
Councillor Neville Patten, leader of the Tory-Liberal Democrat alliance, said: “When we have got the letter and seen the full facts we will deal with it, I can’t say any more than that.”
The single status agreement is a Government-led review of the salaries across local authorities nationwide in a bid to make pay fairer.
As the Express & Star reported in June, the council is already forking out £33 million in backpay to current staff and those that made a claim before the six-month cut off, and is in the middle of negotiations with Unison on a new pay deal for the future.
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3 Comments
Anybody ever wonder where their £1100 or so council tax goes? Well here’s the answer.
More than one third of YOUR money goes on paying past and future commitments to ‘gold plated’ final salary schemes.
While those in the private sector end up with pension shortfalls and bust pension schemes, our civil servant friends are safe in the knowledge their payouts are guaranteed by our taxes.
The argument for this used to be that civil servants were poorly paid. However, you will now find that 11 years of socialist government has seen inflation busting increases across the entire civil service meaning this is no longer the case.
In answer to Dave (1)
Rubbish. This money is compensation for cooks and cleaners who have been underpaid for years.
I assume he is against equal pay for women.
More in reply to Dave:-
(1).I have worked for Wolverhampton Council for 15 years and have never had a rise equal to inflation.
(2).I pay for my private pension -the final salary scheme has ended for new employees -many of whom do not join the West Midlands pension scheme as they can get a better return elsewhere.