A female boss who earned €97,000 less than a male colleague has won an equal pay case.
The Workplace Relations Commission found the ex-manager at a video game sales distributor had been discriminated against on the grounds of her gender.
It noted the absence of transparency relating to salary determination and ordered the unnamed company to pay the woman €97,666 in arrears.
WRC adjudication officer Brian Dalton said the firm failed to provide an adequate explanation for the difference in remuneration over a 15-month period.
The male comparator, a marketing executive contractor, was paid €168,000 each year while the woman, who was hired as general manager in September 2017, had a basic salary of €69,000.
In October 2018, the boss gave notice of her intended resignation and the male colleague left the company.
In a bid to keep the woman, the company offered her a €135,000 basic salary, 7% commission on gross profit excluding deals made by the owner and a retrospective payment of €50,000.
However, she terminated her
employment on November 30. The woman presented her own case against her former employer at a recent one-day hearing while the firm was legally represented by a barrister and a solicitor.
Mr Dalton stated the new terms offered in November “tends to show the company at that time accepted that
the complainant was underpaid when compared to the comparators”. He added only when the GM handed in her notice of resignation was any serious attempt made to address the pay gap.
He also stated the firm was unable to provide a transparent explanation to show how the man’s wage was determined and why there was such a gulf with the woman’s, “who was the most senior executive in the company”.
In relation to the female’s separate pay discrimination claim concerning that of a previous male boss, Mr Dalton found the complainant was not discriminated against on the ground of gender as the former GM had performed work of greater value.
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