Council to spend £51m on equal pay settlements

The GMB union prompted an equal pay review at Sheffield Council

Sheffield Council has agreed to pay £51m to employees as part of a landmark equal pay settlement but said the sum would not put the authority at risk of bankruptcy.

A payout covering 3,600 employees in 260 different roles will cost the authority £36m - funded from the council's reserves.

About 1,600 non-teaching school staff will share another £15m. The council said it was talking to central government about help to fund this but said individual school budgets would not be affected.

Women make up 75% of the affected council staff and 90% of the non-teaching staff.

Council Leader Tom Hunt said the council was in a "stable financial position and this would not impact on council tax or services".

The equal pay issue was one of the key factors in Birmingham City Council declaring effective bankruptcy when it said it was facing a bill of £760m to settle 6,000 claims.

Glasgow City Council agreed to pay £770m to 19,000 claimants. And the GMB said hundreds of Bradford Council workers have launched equal pay claims.

Sheffield Council looked at 2,000 different job roles.

Hunt said: "In 2010, the council implemented a job evaluation scheme and in 2023, concerns were raised by the GMB trade union about equal pay disparities.

"As soon as we were made aware, we took action and worked with unions to commission a review of all roles in the council.

"Council reserves are there for use in in situations like this. We are talking to central government regarding the redress payments for staff who work in maintained schools but payments will not be paid from school budgets."

The majority of Sheffield Council employees who have been underpaid are women

Certain jobs - many in the care and school sectors - were incorrectly put in lower pay grades than others and these were roles traditionally done by women.

GMB, Unison and Unite issued a joint statement which said: "The council has committed to rebuilding its pay and grading systems to ensure they are transparent, robust, and aligned with best practice.

"This includes strengthening job evaluation and embedding equity into the organisation's culture and systems."

Employees who are set to receive payments will be contacted by the council and by law, the payments can be backdated by six years.

In addition to this, the council will reassess all jobs over the next 18 months to ensure every member of staff is graded appropriately.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North