The case of Sodexo Ltd v (1) Gutridge and others (2) North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust considers a transferee’s liability for equal pay claims made by transferred employees following a TUPE transfer. In this case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) holds that following a TUPE transfer, claims for equal pay relating to discrimination in pay by the transferor must be made (against the transferee) within 6 months of the transfer. Claims for equal pay arising as a result of discrimination in pay by the transferee can, however, be brought within 6 months from the end of employment with the transferee. Significantly for transferees, where the transferring employees are in receipt of unequal pay at the time of the transfer, as compared to chosen pre-transfer comparators, they will remain entitled to the same pay as the comparator, even if the comparator is not transferred to the transferee.

In practice this means that after a TUPE transfer, transferees are at a continuing risk of significant claims of up to 6 years arrears of pay, even though they are ignorant of the fact that they are paying their employees less than they should because the persons with whom the employees are comparing their pay (the comparators) are not employed by the transferee. Continue Reading Liability for equal pay claims on TUPE transfer