Public and Commercial Services Union

There are time limits for the different stages, and PCS will ensure they are adhered to.

The first stage is to lodge a formal grievance, which PCS will do on your behalf. Alongside the grievance, PCS will issue an Equal Pay questionnaire or Age Discrimination questionnaire as appropriate, which the MoD are obliged to respond to.

The questions chosen will fully flush out the information needed to make an informed judgement on your chances of success. If at all possible PCS will resolve your claim at this stage, but frankly this does not appear likely at the moment.

If however the MoD is unwilling to settle your claim, Equal Pay and Age Discrimination claims are considered by an Employment Tribunal. Employment Tribunal applications can only be made 28 days after a formal grievance is lodged.

PCS will supply expert legal representation at Employment Tribunal hearings, provided that we have assessed them as having reasonable prospects of success.

The PCS will be pursuing D and C2  equal pay claims, and Age Discrimination claims from members in all grades; by submitting Group claims.

This means we will lodge initial employment tribunal applications, and then submit further claims behind them.

This has been agreed after exchanges with the president of the employment tribunal, and a meeting with the secretary of the employment tribunals held on 7 September 2007.

This preparatory work will stand the union and members in good stead as this work continues.