Hearing on pay equality in the Department for Transport

Preperations are made for a tribunal hearing on pay equality in the Department for Transport (DfT).

The case involves Executive Officers (EO) in the Driver and vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) who are seeking equal pay with driving examiners from the Driving Standards Agency (DSA).

For information, EOs are paid up to £5k less than examiners, even though they do work of equal value. The hearing is expected to be over a few weeks with an estimate end date of 22 May 2009.

The DfT's Defence:

... is one of arguing that the DVLA and DSA are seperate organisations whose pay is determined from different sources.

The other side:

This ignores the fact that both agencies are based within the DfT which is overseen by the Treasury which controls Civil Service pay. Unions have argues that if this defence is succesful, it will be used across the civil service to block equal pay claims.