Asda shopworkers have won a significant victory in a long-running legal battle over equal pay, which could result in the UK supermarket sector having to make estimated payouts of an estimated £8 billion (US$10.45 billion).
The UK Court of Appeal ruled that Asda’s lower-paid store staff, who are mainly female, were entitled to compare themselves to higher-paid warehouse workers, who are mainly male.
Leigh Day, which represents more than 30,000 shop-floor staff from the big four supermarkets – Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons – in similar pay cases, hailed the ruling as “a major step forward in the fair pay battle on behalf of tens of thousands of store workers”. The total payout, if the supermarkets lose, could amount to more than £8 billion, it claimed.
Linda Wong, associate solicitor at Leigh Day, said: “We now hope that rather than continuing to spend huge sums of money thwarting attempts to pay their staff what they are worth, Asda and the other major supermarkets will pay their staff fairly as these workers are also their customers and fair wages benefit all businesses and UK society in general."
Asda said it was disappointed with the ruling and intended to apply to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal.
A spokesperson told The Guardian: “At Asda, our hourly rates of pay in stores are the same for female and male colleagues and this is equally true in our depots. Pay rates in stores differ from pay rates in distribution centres because the demands of the jobs in store and the jobs in distribution centres are very different - they operate in different market sectors and we pay the market rates in those sectors regardless of gender.”
Of all the UK supermarket chains, Tesco faces the largest number of equal pay claimants. The Tesco Action Group, which consists of present and former employees, is represented by Equal Pay Action, through the law firm Harcus Sinclair.
As a result of the ruling, female staff must now prove that their roles are of equal value to those of their male colleagues, and if so, whether there is a reason, other than sex discrimination, that means the roles should not be paid equally.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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Tesco hit with potential £4bn legal challenge for equal pay in the UK
Asda shopworkers have won a significant victory in a long-running legal battle over equal pay, which could result in the UK supermarket sector having to make estimated payouts of an estimated £8 billion (US$10.45 billion).
The UK Court of Appeal ruled that Asda’s lower-paid store staff, who are mainly female, were entitled to compare themselves to higher-paid warehouse workers, who are mainly male.
Leigh Day, which represents more than 30,000 shop-floor staff from the big four supermarkets – Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons – in similar pay cases, hailed the ruling as “a major step forward in the fair pay battle on behalf of tens of thousands of store workers”. The total payout, if the supermarkets lose, could amount to more than £8 billion, it claimed.
Linda Wong, associate solicitor at Leigh Day, said: “We now hope that rather than continuing to spend huge sums of money thwarting attempts to pay their staff what they are worth, Asda and the other major supermarkets will pay their staff fairly as these workers are also their customers and fair wages benefit all businesses and UK society in general."
Asda said it was disappointed with the ruling and intended to apply to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal.
A spokesperson told The Guardian: “At Asda, our hourly rates of pay in stores are the same for female and male colleagues and this is equally true in our depots. Pay rates in stores differ from pay rates in distribution centres because the demands of the jobs in store and the jobs in distribution centres are very different - they operate in different market sectors and we pay the market rates in those sectors regardless of gender.”
Of all the UK supermarket chains, Tesco faces the largest number of equal pay claimants. The Tesco Action Group, which consists of present and former employees, is represented by Equal Pay Action, through the law firm Harcus Sinclair.
As a result of the ruling, female staff must now prove that their roles are of equal value to those of their male colleagues, and if so, whether there is a reason, other than sex discrimination, that means the roles should not be paid equally.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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Tesco hit with potential £4bn legal challenge for equal pay in the UK
