Court of Appeal rules not discriminatory to pay women on maternity leave more than men on shared parental leave

In the combined appeals of Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd and The Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police v Hextall, the Court of Appeal has ruled that it is not unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex – whether direct, indirect, or because of the operation of the sex equality clause implied into all terms of work by the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010) – for men to be paid less on shared parental leave than birth mothers are paid on statutory maternity leave. In this Case Law Update the SMB Employment Team look at the key facts of each case, the legal principles that apply and how the Court reached its decision, highlighting the implications for employers when developing or reviewing their policies.