Professional equality: the seniority criterion does not need to be justified

(B2) Is the seniority bonus a discriminatory factor in remuneration between men and women? And above all, must it be justified? The question is not new. But the Court of Justice of the EC, seized of a British case, wanted to bring order to its case law. An employee of the Health & Safety Executive, the British health and safety agency, Ms Cadman, felt she was discriminated against compared to her better paid male colleagues (between 11 and 25% more). Explicable difference, according to the employer, because these male employees had a greater seniority, acquired in part in lower positions. A view approved by the Court. " As recourse to the criterion of seniority being, as a general rule, capable of achieving the legitimate aim of rewarding the experience acquired which puts the worker in a better position to perform his duties, the employer does not have to specifically establish that recourse to this criterion is apt to achieve this aim with regard to a given job, unless the worker provides elements likely to give rise to serious doubts in this regard”. (ECJ, October 3, 2006, Cadman, case C-17/05).

(NGV)