Northern Ireland

Avoca Café: Two female workers win equal pay claim

Two female workers at Avoca Café in Belfast have won an equal pay claim against their employer
Two female workers at Avoca Café in Belfast have won an equal pay claim against their employer Two female workers at Avoca Café in Belfast have won an equal pay claim against their employer

TWO women working in a high-profile Belfast café have won an equal pay claim against their employer.

Paulina Paczkowska (33) and Agnieszka Anna Golygowska (32) both worked as floor staff and baristas in the Avoca Café on Arthur Street.

They took a claim against the company two years ago because while they were doing the same work as a male colleague since May 2013 he received a much higher rate of pay.

In 2015, Ms Paczkowska was earning £6.79 per hour and Ms Golygowska £6.98 per hour, while their male colleague was earning £8.46.

They took grievances within the company and when these were dismissed they lodged a claim with the Fair Employment Tribunal. Their union SIPTU also referred them to the Equality Commission for help.

Avoca admitted it did not have a structured pay scheme within the business. It also admitted that the three employees were all doing the same work and accepted that there was a disparity in pay.

But it claimed that factors other than gender were the reason for the pay difference, including that the man had experience as a barista and had asked for a pay rise.

The tribunal found that the factors cited by Avoca could not explain the difference in the pay rates.

"The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the respondent has failed to establish a material factor defence to explain the disparity in pay of the claimants and has not rebutted the presumption of sex discrimination," the tribunal found.

The two women are now entitled to the same pay as their male colleague, dated from May 2013.

Dr Evelyn Collins, Chief Executive of the Equality Commission, said the law was clear that "men and women doing equal work for the same employer should get the same reward for it".

"In this case, while the Avoca Café advanced a variety of different reasons for the disparity in pay, none stood up to analysis and the Tribunal was not satisfied that any of the reasons were genuine," she said.

The amount of the compensation to be paid to each of the women is still to be calculated.

In a statement Avoca said: "Avoca is committed to fair and equal pay practices and to equal opportunities for all our employees".

"We believed we were operating in a fair and proper way but we understand and accept the findings of the Tribunal.

"We will take steps to rectify Paulina and Agnieszka's pay as quickly as possible and we apologise to them that we did not get it right in this instance."