Journalist Samira Ahmed, backed by the NUJ, first appeared at The Central London Employment Tribunal on Monday 28 October to challenge unequal pay at the BBC. The journalist has been presenting the BBC programme Newswatch since 2012 and claimed she was paid 6 times less than another presenter, Jeremy Vine, in relation to his work on Points of View between 2008 and July 2018.
Both programmes were presenter-led programmes just under 15 minutes long, which considered audience feedback on BBC programmes and offered the public the opportunity to air their opinions on BBC content.
On 10 January the London Central Employment Tribunal ruled that the presenting work of Samira Ahmed on BBC’s Newswatch programme was equal to that of Jeremy Vine on Points of View.
The panel found that the work of the two presenters was “like work” – the same or broadly similar – alleging that any differences between the two programmes were minor and had no impact on the work that the two presenters did, or the skills and experience required to present the programmes.
