CELEX: C2006/294/17
Language: en
Date: 2006-12-02 00:00:00
Title: Case C-17/05: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 3 October 2006 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division) (United Kingdom)) — B.F. Cadman v Health & Safety Executive (Social policy — Article 141 EC — Principle of equal pay for men and women — Length of service as a determinant of pay — Objective justification — Burden of proof)

2.12.2006   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 294/10
            
         Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 3 October 2006 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division) (United Kingdom)) — B.F. Cadman v Health & Safety Executive
   (Case C-17/05) (1)
   
   (Social policy - Article 141 EC - Principle of equal pay for men and women - Length of service as a determinant of pay - Objective justification - Burden of proof)
   (2006/C 294/17)
   Language of the case: English
   Referring court
   Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
   Parties to the main proceedings
   
      Appellant: B.F. Cadman
   
      Respondent: Health & Safety Executive
   
      Intervener: Equal Opportunities Commission
   Re:
   Reference for a preliminary ruling — Court of Appeal (Civil Division) — Interpretation of Article 141 EC — Equal pay for men and women — Duration of employment used as a criterion for determining pay and having a different effect according to the sex of the worker
   Operative part of the judgment
   Article 141 EC is to be interpreted as meaning that, where recourse to the criterion of length of service as a determinant of pay leads to disparities in pay, in respect of equal work or work of equal value, between the men and women to be included in the comparison:
   
               —
            
            
               since, as a general rule, recourse to the criterion of length of service is appropriate to attain the legitimate objective of rewarding experience acquired which enables the worker to perform his duties better, the employer does not have to establish specifically that recourse to that criterion is appropriate to attain that objective as regards a particular job, unless the worker provides evidence capable of raising serious doubts in that regard;
            
         
               —
            
            
               where a job classification system based on an evaluation of the work to be carried out is used in determining pay, there is no need to show that an individual worker has acquired experience during the relevant period which has enabled him to perform his duties better.
            
         
      (1)  OJ C 69, 19.03.2005.