A spokesperson for the government’s Equality Hub has stated that domestic legislation will be passed before the end of the year which replicates the European Union’s “single source” test which was due to be abolished later this year by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act. The test refers to the ability to make comparisons in equal pay claims between workers “in the same establishment or service” whose terms and conditions are attributable to a “single source”.
The single source test is a valuable piece of equal pay protection that many employees will be relieved to hear will be replicated.
The test essentially means that workers do not have to have the same employer, or even an associated employer, to be able to make an equal pay comparison. So long as a single body is responsible for the inequality and has the ability to restore equal treatment, workers will be able to compare their pay with that of other workers.
This is far wider than current domestic legislation. The Equality Act only allows comparisons to be made where workers are engaged by the same or an associated employer(s) and they must be either at the same establishment or at a different establishment where common terms of employment apply. Equal pay claimants, therefore, have sought to rely on the direct effect of the EU’s single source test, instead of the narrower provisions of the Equality Act.
What form the upcoming domestic legislation will take is yet to be seen. Provided it retains its wider scope, the announcement of its domestic replication will assist many equal pay claimants.
