By Jess McCabe | 4 May 2005, 09:19

A woman won her nine year battle for fair maternity pay yesterday. Woolwich Building Society, now part of Barclays, had calculated her maternity pay too low, basing it on her income before a pay rise.

She finally received the \xA3270 odd that she was owed, a symbolic victory, but one which could benefit thousands of other women. The case also means that it will be easier for women to claim sexual discrimination in maternity pay cases. In the past, such attempts had been scuppered by the need to find a male worker to compare pay.

This is good news, but how can it possibly have taken nine years to resolve?

The Guardian has the full story.