Equal pay claim

Pay discrimination between men and women doing equal work has its own claim, its own comparator rules, and — easy to miss — its own time limit, longer than the one most Employment Tribunal claims use.

Does an equal pay claim have the same time limit as other Employment Tribunal claims?

No, and this catches people out. Most Employment Tribunal claims must be brought within three months minus one day of the event complained of, subject to the ACAS early conciliation extension. An equal pay claim has its own, longer time limit under the Equality Act 2010, section 129: six months from the end of the employment the claim relates to, in the standard case. Crucially, the tribunal has no discretion to extend this six-month limit, unlike the "just and equitable" extension available for most other discrimination claims.

Does ACAS early conciliation still apply to equal pay claims?

Yes, but through a different statutory route than most other claims. Section 129 is expressly made subject to section 140B of the Equality Act 2010, which provides the early conciliation extension specifically for equal pay time limits — distinct from section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which performs the equivalent role for most other tribunal claims. The practical effect is broadly similar: where the six-month limit would expire during or shortly after conciliation, it is extended. Treat this as a related but separate mechanism, not simply the standard ACAS rule applied to a different number of months.

How far back can I claim unequal pay?

Up to six years of arrears in England and Wales (five years in Scotland), measured from when proceedings are issued, under the ordinary contract limitation rules carried through into the Equality Act 2010's equal pay provisions. This arrears period is separate from, and considerably longer than, the six-month time limit for bringing the claim itself.

What if I missed the six-month Employment Tribunal deadline?

You may still have a route. The Supreme Court in Birmingham City Council v Abdulla confirmed that a claimant who is time-barred from bringing an equal pay claim in the Employment Tribunal can still bring the same claim as a breach of contract in the ordinary civil courts (the County Court or High Court), within the six-year contract limitation period. This is a commonly missed option, and it comes with different costs rules than tribunal litigation, so it needs its own careful consideration rather than being assumed to work the same way.

Do I need to name a specific comparator of the opposite sex?

Yes. An equal pay claim works by comparing your contractual terms to a real comparator of the opposite sex doing equal work for the same employer (or an associated employer in some circumstances) — equal meaning like work, work rated as equivalent under a job evaluation scheme, or work of equal value. You cannot bring a general claim that your pay is unfairly low; you must identify a comparator and show the work is equal in one of these specific senses.

How an equal pay claim works

Unfair dismissal and discrimination claims ask whether something was done to you because of a protected characteristic. An equal pay claim asks a narrower, comparative question: are you being paid less, or given worse contractual benefits, than a specific person of the opposite sex doing equal work for the same employer? The Equality Act 2010, sections 64 to 71 — which replaced the Equal Pay Act 1970 — implies a sex equality clause into every relevant contract, which modifies any less favourable term to match the comparator's.

"Equal work" has three recognised routes: like work (broadly similar work), work rated as equivalent under a formal job evaluation scheme, or work that is, in practice, of equal value even though it looks different on the surface — the route that has produced some of the most significant equal pay litigation, comparing roles like retail shop workers to warehouse staff, or school support staff to refuse collectors. You must identify a real comparator, not a hypothetical one, though the employer can raise a defence that any difference in pay is genuinely due to a material factor unrelated to sex.

The time limit is where equal pay claims diverge sharply from most other Employment Tribunal claims. Under section 129, the standard time limit is six months from the end of the employment the claim relates to — not the familiar three-months-minus-a-day limit used for unfair dismissal and most discrimination claims. There is no "just and equitable" discretion to extend it, which exists for other Equality Act claims but is deliberately absent here. Section 129 is expressly made subject to section 140B, a separate provision that applies the ACAS early conciliation extension to this six-month limit — distinct from section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which performs the equivalent function for most other tribunal time limits. The two mechanisms achieve a broadly similar practical result, but through different statutory routes, which matters if you are trying to work out exactly when your limit expires.

The claim itself and the money it can recover are also measured differently. Even though you only have six months to start the claim, a successful claim can recover arrears going back up to six years in England and Wales (five years in Scotland), under the ordinary contract limitation period, measured from when proceedings are issued rather than from the end of employment.

A woman working as a care assistant discovers that a male colleague doing the same role, under the same job title and contract type, is paid £1.20 per hour more. She left that employer eight weeks ago. She contacts ACAS for early conciliation five months after leaving, and an EC certificate is issued three weeks later.

Equal pay — like work comparator

6 months from end of employment (s.129)

Month 5 — extension under s.140B applies

Arrears recoverable if successful

Up to 6 years' pay difference

Because she contacted ACAS before the six-month limit expired, the section 140B extension protects her claim even though the EC certificate was issued close to, or slightly after, what would otherwise have been the deadline. If successful, she can recover the pay difference going back up to six years, not just from when she raised the issue.

ACAS Early Conciliation

Employment tribunal time limit

Indirect discrimination

Equality Act 2010, sections 64–71

Equality Act 2010, section 129

Equality Act 2010, section 140B

Birmingham City Council v Abdulla [2012] UKSC 47

Equal Pay Claim — Employment Tribunal Glossary

What an equal pay claim is, the six-month time limit that catches people out, and how far back you can claim arrears if you win.