Equal pay, job evaluation and AI pay tools in Great Britain

Employers increasingly use software to grade jobs, benchmark salaries and recommend pay rises. In Great Britain the Equality Act 2010 gives women and men a right to equal terms for equal work, and the tests it uses, including job evaluation studies, apply whether a person or a tool does the grading. This page explains how the right works.

The short answer: if a person does work equal to that of a comparator of the opposite sex, their contract is treated as including a sex equality clause that levels up any less favourable term (s64, s66). Work is equal if it is like work, rated as equivalent by a job evaluation study, or of equal value (s65). The employer can defend a difference only by showing it is due to a material factor that is not sex discrimination (s69).

Three kinds of equal work

• Like work: the work is the same or broadly similar, and any differences are not of practical importance in relation to the terms of the work. The tribunal looks at how often differences occur in practice and their nature and extent (s65(2) and (3)).
• Work rated as equivalent: a job evaluation study gives the two jobs an equal value in terms of the demands made on a worker, or would do so if the evaluation were not made on a sex-specific system, meaning one that sets different values for men and women for any demand (s65(4) and (5)).
• Work of equal value: work that is neither like work nor rated as equivalent, but is equal in terms of the demands made by reference to factors such as effort, skill and decision-making (s65(6)).

The comparator's work need not be done at the same time, so a predecessor can be a comparator (s64(2)).

Who can be a comparator

For an employee, the comparator must be of the opposite sex and (s79):

• employed by the same or an associated employer at the same establishment; or
• employed by the same or an associated employer at another establishment where common terms apply; or
• employed on terms set or continued by a single body that is in a position to ensure equal treatment between them; or
• employed on terms governed by the same collective agreement.

What the sex equality clause does

If a term is less favourable than the comparator's corresponding term, it is modified so as not to be less favourable, and if the comparator has a beneficial term the claimant lacks, the claimant's terms are modified to include it (s66(2)). The comparison is term by term, so a bonus, allowance or pay progression rule can be challenged on its own.

The material factor defence

The clause has no effect on a difference the employer shows is because of a material factor, which must be a material difference between the two cases, and which does not involve treating the claimant less favourably because of sex. If the claimant shows that the factor puts people of their sex doing equal work at a particular disadvantage, the employer must also show it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim (s69).

Pointing to a pay tool's output is unlikely to be enough on its own: the employer has to show the factor behind the difference, so it needs to know what the tool relied on. If a tool weights factors such as market rates, negotiated starting salaries or uninterrupted service, check whether they put one sex at a particular disadvantage.

Job evaluation, AI and equal value claims

In an equal value claim the tribunal can require a member of the ACAS panel of independent experts to report before deciding (s131(2)). Where a job evaluation study has given the two jobs different values, the tribunal must find the work is not of equal value unless it has reasonable grounds to suspect the evaluation was based on a system that discriminates because of sex or is otherwise unreliable (s131(5) and (6)). A system discriminates because of sex if a difference, or coincidence, between the values it sets on different demands is not justifiable regardless of the sex of the person on whom the demands are made (s131(7)).

So an automated job grading or evaluation tool is likely to carry weight only if it is reliable and its weightings can be justified regardless of sex. Keep a record of the factors, weights and data behind each grade.

Claims and remedies

A claim for breach of an equality clause goes to an employment tribunal. In a standard case the qualifying period is six months beginning with the last day of the employment, with different start points where there was a stable working relationship, the employer concealed relevant facts, or the worker was incapacitated, and subject to section 140B (s129). Check which period applies to your case. The tribunal can declare the parties' rights and award arrears of pay or damages; in England and Wales arrears can generally go back six years before the claim, and in Scotland the period is five years in a standard case (s132).

Practical steps

• Employers: test pay and grading tools for differences by sex between people doing equal work, document the factors behind any difference, and check that those factors do not put one sex at a particular disadvantage without justification.
• Treat an automated job evaluation as a job evaluation study that may be tested in a tribunal: it should value demands the same way for everyone and be reliable.
• Employees: you can discuss pay with colleagues to find out whether there is a link with sex; see pay secrecy and pay gap reporting. Note the time limit and seek advice early.

For other discrimination claims, see AI decisions and the Equality Act. This page covers Great Britain and is general information on the law as at 2 November 2026, not legal advice.