Hundreds of female Fife Council employees entitled to sizeable payouts as part of the recently-reached equal pay settlement are unlikely to see their cash before Christmas, it has emerged.
More than 1,400 women are due to be properly recompensed for “historic discriminatory pay practices” within the local authority, with compensation for Unison members’ dating back in some cases to 2006.
However, chief executive Steve Grimmond has suggested that work in that regard is still ongoing, meaning many people may have to wait until the New Year for their windfall.
“There is still very active work going on in relation to this, it is not yet finalised and that’s because of the engagement with the trade unions and individuals concerned,” he said.
“We’re not in a position yet to determine the overall costs.
“But it’s fair to say that’s it’s now probably unlikely that all staff will receive payments before Christmas, although we’re working towards staff receiving payment as soon as possible once everything has been worked through.”
Although no exact figure has been divulged, the deal for Fife is understood to be worth many millions of pounds and will give the council an additional headache as they draw up their budget for next year.
North Lanarkshire Council’s settlement was said to be worth around £75 million, although that was for 4,000-plus workers.
Unison has been in the process of discussing individual claims with the council to ensure each claim has been calculated properly, and many members have already received letters outlining their settlement figures.