'Our voices matter' | Tribunal backs cleaners' race discrimination appeal over delayed pay at Great Ormond Street Hospital

A tribunal has upheld a landmark appeal by 80 cleaners at Great Ormond Street Hospital, finding that the Trust unlawfully delayed placing them on improved pay and conditions after bringing cleaning services in-house.

The ruling confirms that the cleaners were subjected to indirect race discrimination in the period after their transfer to NHS employment, entitling them to back pay for the difference between what they received and what they should have been paid under Agenda for Change terms.

Cleaners transferred in-house but left on inferior terms

The claimants, all from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds, had worked as cleaners at the renowned children’s hospital while employed by outsourcing contractor OCS. Cleaning services were brought in-house on 1 August 2021, at which point the workers transferred to NHS employment under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment).

Despite becoming Trust employees, the cleaners were not moved immediately onto Agenda for Change rates and benefits. Instead, they remained on their previous contractual terms for a prolonged period, while other Trust staff undertaking comparable work were paid under the national NHS framework.