The case is being brought on behalf of workers including nursery nurses and classroom assistants
The Supreme Court is set to deliver a ruling on an equal pay case brought on behalf of female staff with Dumfries and Galloway Council.
The union Unison is pursuing the claim for workers including nursery nurses and classroom assistants.
It says the case could affect hundreds of equal pay claims currently on hold across Scotland.
It claims the women should be treated the same as male staff with the same employer but at a different workplace.
The union's case was rejected by the Court of Session but it has now taken an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Different rulebooksA total of 244 equal pay claims were brought on behalf of classroom assistants, support for learning assistants and nursery nurses working at schools in Dumfries and Galloway.
They are seeking the same treatment as male manual workers such as leisure attendants, road workers, groundsmen, refuse drivers and collectors working at local depots and swimming pools.
The female staff are employed on conditions set out in a what is known as the Blue Book while their male counterparts have a Green Book.
The latter allows for bonus payments and pay supplements while the former does not.
An employment tribunal allowed the claim to proceed but an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) overturned that decision.
It ruled there was no "real possibility" of the male workers doing their jobs in schools.
The Court of Session disagreed with that finding but still dismissed the appeal on the grounds that if the men were to be employed in schools their terms and conditions would not be "broadly similar" to their existing terms.
The union has now taken the case to the Supreme Court for a final ruling.
Unison has described it as a "historic case" which could "finally guarantee women and men the right to claim equal treatment with anyone of the opposite sex who works for the same employer".
Source: BBC News - Business http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-23045072#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
