Public and Commercial Services Union

500 age discrimination claims over pay have been lodged by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)  it was announced today.

The move is part of the union’s campaign for fair pay in civil and public services and against the government’s policy of capping public sector pay, which is leading to pay cuts and pay freezes. It comes just days before a one day strike over pay involving 260,000 civil and public servants across the UK on Monday 10 November.

The MoJ imposed a pay system last year which the union maintains discriminates against younger members of the workforce as it can take over ten years for staff members to reach the top of their pay scale.

A typical example is a 29 year old supervisor, who has worked at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court for 12 years and is paid £17,876. The number of years it will take her to progress to the top of her pay scale and reach the rate for the job is still undefined, but is expected to take well over five years. The union believes this amount of time breaches age discrimination law, drives down wages and morale.

The cases in the MoJ highlight the double disadvantage faced by public servants working for the civil service. Unlike other parts of the public sector, ‘progression’, or moving from the bottom to the top of a pay scale is included in the government’s pay cap along with cost of living increases. This means that there is less money available to fund basic pay increases and movement up pay scales.
 

A press release has been issued.