Here are additional excerpts from the report from the London Times on that ruling by the European Court of Justice that–surprise, surprise–women who work fewer years don’t have a right to get paid the same as men who work more years (read The Other Charlotte’s post today below):


“Bernadette Cadman, 44, a health inspector from Manchester, brought the case after she realised that she was being paid up to £13,000 less a year than male colleagues who were doing the same job….


“Ms Cadman had claimed that such pay structures unfairly denied women the chance to earn as much as men. She argued that length of service often depended on domestic circumstances such as pregnancy and maternity leave and that employers should have to provide special justification for paying men more than women when they hold the same post and perform the same duties.”


Yes–how unjust to pay more money to people with more experience than people with less experience! Fortunately, the court didn’t buy that one.


What I love about this case are the comments from some of the interested agitators:


“Leena Linnainmaa, the president of the European Women Lawyers’ Association, suggested that the situation would only become fairer for women when men took more paternity leave, something most did not do even though they had the right to in most European countries.


“‘The fact that women take maternity leave is a great burden on their career,’ she said.


“‘We strongly encourage men to take paternity leave and the countries that have no specific legislation on the right to paternity leave to amend their law.'”


Yeah, guys–take some time off, too, so you can earn a lower salary!


And then there’s this:


“Sarah Harman, a leading family solicitor and founder of the pressure group, Families Action for Court Transparency and Openness, said: ‘To be penalised in terms of salary is a real pity. It seems to go against the run of really encouraging steps in the last 10 to 15 years, which have made women feel that they don’t have to put their children in nurseries and that they can regain the time lost. Length of service and experience are good things, but women who take time off can come back with renewed energy, new ideas, and a different set of skills.'”


And so they should be paid for resting up? I don’t think so.