A
female HR manager has settled for nearly £20,000 in compensation after claiming
her role should be worth the same as the male financial controller.
Avril
Johnson, who worked for manufacturer Barco for nine years, won an out-of-court
settlement of £19,000 after she was unfairly dismissed when the company tried
to demote her role to HR administrator.
Johnson
claims that she earned £8,000 less than the financial controller, received
fewer share options and missed out on the annual bonus he received.
She
also claimed to be the only member of the management team not to get a company
mobile phone.
Her
case was supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission and its chair Julie
Mellor, who said the situation was avoidable if employers carried out equal pay
reviews to ensure fairness.
"The
best way to make sure a pay system is fair is to carry out an equal pay review.
In some cases, a review might uncover the fact that jobs usually done by women
have historically been under-valued, leading to lower rates of pay than for
jobs usually done by men," she added.