The amount of compensation Sheffield Council has agreed to pay staff involved in an out-of-court compensation settlement is to be revealed.
Around 900 staff are due to receive compensation, mostly comprising of dinner ladies, cleaners, and carers.
They came to agreement with the council after it transpired that historically they were being paid less than equivalently graded jobs in other areas of the council.
The council refused to publish the figures it was paying out in relation to the case as it did not want to reveal individual compensation payouts.
Had Sheffield Council lost the case in court, it would have cost around £20m. Settling out of court arguably saved the council a substantial sum at a time when they are being forced to bring in cuts of £57m.
The council has agreed to reveal the total compensation figure rather than on an individual basis. It has said it will reveal the figure once the total has been calculated exactly.
A spokesman said: “The proceedings have been adjourned to allow individual cases to be resolved.
“That process, facilitated by arbitration and conciliation service ACAS and its solicitors, is ongoing and, because of the volume and complexity of claims, hasn’t concluded yet.
“Parties are hopeful this process can be concluded by the end of March, at which time we will provide the requested information.
“At the present time the final figure isn’t available.”
He continued: “We are the 13th-best in the country for responding to requests for information within the 20-day deadline for a reply.”
