Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1 Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Remedies for breach of the prohibition of discrimination - National procedural rules - Compliance with the principle of the effectiveness of Community law - Whether it is possible to contest a worker's claim by relying on national legislation which places limitations on the right to obtain pay arrears or damages - Not permissible on the facts

(EC Treaty, Art. 119; Council Directive 75/117)

2 Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Remedies for breach of the prohibition of discrimination - National procedural rules - Compliance with the principle of equivalence, namely that conditions for obtaining pay arrears or damages must not be less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions - To be determined by the national courts

(EC Treaty, Art. 119; Council Directive 75/117)

Summary

1 Community law precludes the application of a rule of national law which limits an employee's entitlement to arrears of remuneration or damages for breach of the principle of equal pay to a period of two years prior to the date on which the proceedings were instituted, there being no possibility of extending that period, where the delay in bringing a claim is attributable to the fact that the employer deliberately misrepresented to the employee the level of remuneration received by persons of the opposite sex performing like work.

To allow an employer whose deceit has caused a worker to delay in bringing an equal pay claim to rely on a national rule restricting the right to obtain pay arrears to two years before the initiation of the action would be manifestly incompatible with the principle of effectiveness. Application of the national rule would be likely to make it virtually impossible or excessively difficult to obtain arrears of remuneration in respect of sex discrimination. The employee so informed would have no way of determining whether he was being discriminated against or, if so, to what extent. Consequently, by relying on the rule at issue in that situation, the employer would be able to deprive his employee of the means provided for by Directive 75/117 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women of enforcing the principle of equal pay before the courts.

2 Community law precludes the application of a rule of national law which limits an employee's entitlement to arrears of remuneration or damages for breach of the principle of equal pay to a period of two years prior to the date on which the proceedings were instituted, even when another remedy is available, if the latter is likely to entail procedural rules or other conditions which are less favourable than those applicable to similar domestic actions. It is for the national court to determine whether that is the case.