What is a comparator?
When someone puts in a claim for equal pay, they are claiming for pay which is equal to that of someone else. The person with whom the comparison is made is the comparator. An employee can claim for equal pay with one or several comparators, and on different grounds – for example, he (or she) might compare earnings with one because they do similar work, and another because their work is of equal value. An Employment Appeals Tribunal has ruled recently that these claims do not have to be made simultaneously – the fact that someone is using one comparator now does not debar them from using another in the future. It is therefore essential to keep good records, not only of what people are (and were) paid, including the value of their benefits, but also of why. You no longer need to worry about equal pay claims from employees (or, more usually, ex-employees) who base their claim on comparators who were not employed by you in the relevant job until after the first employee stopped doing that
