Twelve museum workers have won a dispute with their employer over how long their pay rate should be protected following internal reorganisation.

The staff, who all worked for Brighton and Hove Council, lost their shift allowances or were given a lower pay grade in 2013.

The council reached an agreement with their union that the changes would be delayed for four years.

However, the council then imposed the new rates after only three years. It claimed the original four-year period was never part of the agreement and had been inserted due to a clerical error.

The staff took legal action and the Employment Tribunal ruled in their favour. It held that the contractual period was absolutely clear and ordered the council to repay the higher wage rates that had been withheld.

A council spokesman said: “We’ll be studying the tribunal’s findings and any implications these may have.”

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