Cleaners, carers and cooks are set to pick up thousands in compensation after judges agreed they should share in bonus payments, even though their claims were ruled out of time to go before an employment tribunal.

The Court of Appeal has opened the way for thousands of workers to take their cases to the High Court by agreeing with lawyers for 174 women who had worked for Birmingham City Council that the Equal Pay Act applied to their case.

Effectively, the judgment removes the six month limit on taking an equal pay case to law by extending the time to six years.

Lawyers now expect a flood of claims from hundreds of other employees who missed out on pay and benefits because they were too late in taking their claims to an employment tribunal.

Birmingham City Council had appealed against a lower court ruling that allowed the case to go to the High Court.

Appeal judges Lord Justice Mummery, Lord Justice Davis and Dame Janet Smith dismissed the appeal.

They unanimously ruled the council had failed to convince them that the lower court’s interpretation of the Equal Pay Act was incorrect.

Lord Justice Mummery said the case was “interesting” in terms of the Equality Act.

The arguments may not have ended – the council was granted permission to take the case to the Supreme Court.

The case involves 174 women council workers denied bonus payments in line with those handed to men. The court heard that in 2007 and 2008, women were paid thousands in compensation for the breach of equality laws.

The payments went to current workers or those who had left their jobs no more than six months before.

All the women denied payments had left their council jobs six months or more when the compensation was paid.

A council spokesman said: “We are disappointed by the judgment and are currently considering our next step, which could include an appeal.”