Asda shop workers have won the latest key stage in their fight for equal pay in a ruling that could lead to a £500m compensation claim.
The supreme court has backed a 2016 employment tribunal decision that the supermarket’s retail staff, who are mostly women, can compare their work to those in warehouse distribution centres.
More than 44,000 shop workers say they should be paid the same as the predominantly male staff who work in the chain’s depots, and who receive£1.50-£3 an hour more in pay than the shop workers.
Wendy Arundale, who worked for Asda for 32 years, said: “I’m delighted that shop floor workers are one step closer to achieving equal pay.
“I loved my job but knowing that male colleagues working in distribution centres were being paid more left a bitter taste in my mouth.”
The GMB union, which is backing the case, called the supreme court ruling a “massive victory”.
Susan Harris, the GMB legal director, said: “Asda has wasted money on lawyers’ bills chasing a lost cause, losing appeal after appeal, while tens of thousands of retail workers remain out of pocket.
“We now call on Asda to sit down with us to reach agreement on the back pay owed to our members.”
The win is the first major stage of the long-running court battle that has implications for workers in all the major supermarkets. The supreme court backed the 2016 employment tribunal ruling, which was also previously upheld by the court of appeal in 2019.
The outcome of the landmark case – the biggest-ever equal pay claim in the UK private sector – will have repercussions for about 8,000 workers at other supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Morrisons, who are also engaged in equal pay disputes with their employers.
The legal firm Leigh Day, which is representing the Asda shop workers, has said that if the five supermarkets lose the cases brought by the workers, they could be facing backdated pay claims totalling £8bn.
The second stage of the Asda case, which has already begun at the employment tribunal, will determine whether particular store and distribution roles are of “equal value”. This could potentially be followed by a third stage that would consider if factors other than gender determine why the roles should not be paid equally.
Unequal pay has been a big battleground in the public sector, with female cleaners and dinner ladies taking legal action over claims they were paid less than men who worked as refuse collectors or street cleaners.
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The Asda case – which in reference to the Ford machinists strike of the 1960s has been dubbed “Made in Dagenham for the 21st Century” – was the first to be brought against a private employer.
An Asda spokesperson said: “This ruling relates to one stage of a complex case that is likely to take several years to reach a conclusion. We are defending these claims because the pay in our stores and distribution centres is the same for colleagues doing the same jobs regardless of their gender. Retail and distribution are very different sectors with their own distinct skill sets and pay rates. Asda has always paid colleagues the market rate in these sectors and we remain confident in our case.”
The scale of any payout is likely to have implications for the group’s £6.5bn takeover by the billionaire Issa brothers, which is awaiting approval by competition regulators. Asda’s current owner, Walmart, which will retain a minority stake in Asda after the takeover, is reported to have agreed to pick up the tab for any compensation.
