Jessy Edwards  |  June 4, 2021

Category: Labour & Employment

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Tesco sign

 

The top court in the European Union (EU) has delivered an encouraging ruling for female workers suing UK retail giant Tesco, Bloomberg reports.

On Thursday, the EU Court of Justice ruled that EU laws on equal pay for equal work could be taken into account in the equal pay case against Tesco. 

The retailer is fighting a case that says around 6,000 of its store workers, predominantly women, are or were being paid up to £3 less per hour than its warehouse and distribution centre workers, most of whom are male.

The Tesco workers say their work is of equal value to that of their colleagues working in distribution centres and so they should be paid the same. 

The lawsuit claims thousands of current and former workers could be entitled to back pay worth up to £10,000 each, which could mean Tesco will be forced to pay out more than £2.5 billion.

Thursday’s ruling saw the court determine that EU law should be taken into account when determining if the store workers role is comparable to the warehouse and distribution center role. The case landed in the EU court because it was sent to the tribunal before the Brexit transition ended. 

It ruled that EU law has direct effect in cases where “failure to observe the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for work of equal value” is being debated, Bloomberg reported.

The decision comes as six of the nation’s leading retailers face equal pay legal battles alleging they’ve been unfairly paying certain workers — predominantly female staff — less for years.

Grocers and retail giants Asda, Tesco, Next, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, and Morrison’s have all been facing equal-pay claims from their employees; many of the lawsuits seek back pay, which could lead to the retailers forking out billions.

While the lawsuits aren’t specifically asking for more money for female staff, many of them allege the companies paid less for roles that are predominantly held by women. 

Asda recently lost its dispute over equal pay in the UK Supreme Court, with the court ruling the shop and warehouse roles were comparable, Bloomberg reported.

The dispute against the supermarket chain was the biggest-ever equal-pay claim in the private sector in the UK, brought by about 35,000 of its mostly-female checkout staff.

Those claims were first brought to an employment tribunal in 2014, and the dispute was seen to be a landmark case with repercussions for other supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Morrisons.

Asda workers were seeking six years of backdated pay, The Guardian reported. Despite recently selling Asda, its former owner, Walmart, may still have to foot the bill, according to The Telegraph.

Meanwhile, the Tesco case will now return to a U.K. employment tribunal, with Bloomberg reporting it may be years before a final ruling is reached. 

What do you think of the shop workers’ cases against UK’s retail giants? Let us know in the comments.

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