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£1 million back-pay due after colleges failed on lecturers' salaries

8 March 2007

An industrial tribunal has ruled that further education colleges in Northern Ireland failed to pay over 70 lecturers their proper pay since 2001.

The decision, which has not been appealed by the employers, was given on 18 January this year. It means that rules for placing lecturers on to a new salary scale applied from 1 September 2001. The employers failed to implement the agreement claiming it was only effective from 2002.

The lecturers involved will be entitled to over a million pounds in back payments.

UCU's regional official Jim McKeown who leads negotiations on behalf of college lecturers said: 'We never had any doubt as to the outcome of this hearing. The evidence was crystal clear that the employers had agreed to the introduction of a new salary scale from 1 September 2001. They tried to claim that the words on the agreement were a "clerical error" but the tribunal threw out that argument. The employers were wrong and now they will have to pay up. UCU will ensure the lecturers who were unjustly denied proper payment for nearly 6 years will get their entitlements.

'It says a lot for the attitude of this group of employers towards their employees that for many young teachers - new to the further education sector - one of their first actions was to take their employers to a tribunal to get their proper pay. It is also an absolute disgrace that these employers used money in legal and other fees - given them by the tax-payers - to defend an indefensible position and to cover up their failure to honour an agreement they freely entered into.'

UCU was represented in the case by barrister Michael Potter instructed by Thompsons McClure.

Individual cases relating to unlawful deductions from salary are to proceed. UCU will be assisting applicants to ensure that their placement on the salary scale will be recalculated and backdated to 1 September 2001. For some individuals the sums involved will be upwards of £20,000. There are over 70 lecturers affected.
Last updated: 14 December 2015

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