Asda equal pay dispute advances as UK supermarkets look on nervously
Asda workers’ equal pay dispute can advance to its final legal stage after an employment tribunal ruled store worker jobs are of equal value to colleagues in distribution centres.
The case alleges that store workers, most of whom are women, are on lower hourly pay rates than staff in Asda warehouses, which is male dominated.
The Tribunal found in favour of 12 out of 14 women acting as ‘lead claimants’ for different store roles, finding that they have established equal value with some of the lead male comparators.
However, the Tribunal did strike out the other two, ruling they did not meet the Tribunal’s threshold. Those two claims represented 11,000 (20 per cent ) of all claimants in the Asda dispute.
Law firm Leigh Day, who are representing the woman in these cases, stated disappointment that they two claimants, a personal shopper and shop floor assistant – edible grocery, were ruled to not be of equal value.
The firm stated they “are carefully considering this part of the judgment and will be exploring all available options, including the possibility of an appeal.”
Asda employs more than 127,000 shop floor workers across its 1,200 plus stores in the UK.
Last August fashion retailer Next lost a major legal battle in a similar claim to Asda, resulting in an estimated £30m bill, but the retailer is seeking to appeal on the decision.
The law firm stated that the final value of Asda’s claim, if successful, could be as much as £1.2bn.
Does this set a precedent?
The Asda case, depending on appeal, can proceed onto the third stage, which will require Asda to provide a reason, not related to sex, for the difference in pay.
For those 12 remaining claimants, the Tribunal said they represented a ‘mixed picture’ in terms of equal value and noted the case would move to the material factors defence stage.
Lauren Lougheed, partner at Leigh Day noted that this ruling was a “significant step for the thousands of Asda store workers who have established equal value.”
Linda Wong, Leigh Day’s partner pointed out that “Asda has publicly cited financial pressures in the past as a reason for resisting these claims.”
“However, the company’s recent financial reports paint a different picture, showing that it remains a profitable business capable of addressing pay disparities without significant hardship,” she added.
While Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer added “GMB now calls on Asda to stop wasting time and money dragging this case through the courts and get round the table with us to agree a settlement.”
Philip Richardson, partner at Stephensons highlighted that “this judgment, whilst still subject to appeal, is another landmark moment for thousands of workers up and down the country.”
“At its core, it underlines once again that there is no genuine reason for a disparity in pay between store workers and warehouse workers based solely on their sex,” he concluded.
Leigh Day has also filed similar equal pay claims against Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Co-op.
An Asda spokesperson said: “We strongly reject any claim that Asda’s pay rates are discriminatory. Asda will continue to defend these claims at the next stage of the litigation because retail and distribution are two different industry sectors that have their own market rates and distinct pay structures.”