Supermarket Equal Pay: Asda workers close in on justice

Thousands of Asda workers have just won the latest stage in a decade-long equal pay case that could lead to a payout worth £1.2bn.

This marks a historic milestone in the fight for equal pay justice for tens of thousands of Asda employees – as well as workers at other UK supermarkets.

So what exactly was the case being brought against Asda? We explain the Asda equal pay claim, what this most recent ruling means and how it could affect the chances for workers at Tesco and other UK supermarkets to get their own payouts.

A landmark case of unequal pay

The long-running case brought against Asda by the GMB and lawyers Leigh Day centres on the fact Asda’s predominantly female retail workforce is paid up to £3.74 per hour less than the predominantly male warehouse workforce.

A group of workers, the majority of whom are women, launched their claim in 2014 and are seeking financial redress in the form of backpay.

They argue that the difference in pay grades has reinforced the gender pay gap – treating work done by store workers, who are typically women, as of lesser value than their colleagues working in distribution centres, who are mostly men – and therefore unlawful under The Equality Act.

The Asda case: what’s happened and what comes next?

The most recent tribunal ruled over the cases of 14 “lead claimants” who represent thousands more workers across the different Asda roles.

The court found that 12 out of 14 workers had been the victim of unequal pay practices and should therefore proceed to the next and final stage of the legal battle.

Those 12 claimants, who are now in the final stage of the case, include a checkout operator, various shop floor assistants who worked across chilled, bakery, produce, home & leisure, George, the customer service desk and warehouse) and a section leader.

The only people who will need to appeal the judgment are those were deemed not to qualify in terms of comparability of their work with that done by employees in distribution centres. These claimants include shop floor assistants for food and personal shoppers. For these individuals and the thousands of workers they represent, the tribunals decision that they had “failed to establish that their work was of equal value to any of the comparators’ work” will be need to be appealed if they want to continue to pursue the case.

But for the majority of claimants, the next step is stage three of the claim, known as the Material Factor Defence stage. For this, the supermarket will need to to provide justifiable reasons, not related to sex, for the difference in pay.

If they cannot do so, it will be shown to be a case of sex discrimination and they will have to offer financial redress.

A bigger battle

According to Leigh Day, Asda employs over 127,000 shop floor workers across its 1,200 plus stores in the UK, with the number of current and former workers joining the legal claim increasing weekly. If they are successful, the final compensation value of the claim could be as much as £1.2bn!

This win for Asda in-store workers is a historic step towards securing equal pay justice for tens of thousands of employees at other supermarkets too. The kind of pay grades used in Asda, which treated in-store jobs as of lesser value than those in distribution centres, have also been applied to those working in-store for Tesco, Morrisons and other UK supermarkets.

This case could pave the way for further successful supermarket equal pay claims where current and former employees challenge supermarkets over unfair wage structures.

Current or former Sainsbury’s, Asda or Morrisons employee?

The fight over supermarket equal pay is continuing, and if you currently work, or previously worked, on the shop floor at Sainsbury’s, Asda or Morrisons, you may be able to join an equal pay claim.

Fair Pay UK, a trading style of law firm Harcus Parker, is pursuing claims on behalf of supermarket workers who argue that predominantly female shop-floor staff have historically been paid less than predominantly male workers doing jobs in distribution centres.

The central question is whether the shop-floor and distribution roles are considered to be of equal value. If a tribunal finds that they are, and the supermarket cannot legally justify the difference in pay, affected workers could potentially receive back pay.

How much could you claim?

Fair Pay UK says successful claimants could potentially recover up to six years of back pay, meaning some workers could be owed thousands of pounds. The amount would depend on factors including how many hours you worked, how long you worked for the supermarket and the difference between your pay and that of the relevant distribution workers. Any figures shown by Fair Pay UK’s online calculator are estimates rather than guaranteed compensation.

You don’t necessarily need to still work for the supermarket to make a claim. However, strict time limits apply, particularly once you leave your job, so it’s important to check your eligibility rather than assume you have plenty of time.

You can check whether you may be eligible for the Sainsbury’s, Asda or Morrisons equal pay claim here.

If you know someone who currently works, or previously worked, on the shop floor at one of these supermarkets, it may also be worth making them aware of the claim, particularly as the time available to take action can be limited.

The future of group litigation

Pay Justice, who are involved in actions against the four leading supermarkets and other retailers, estimates that up to 584,000 supermarket workers and more than 37,000 retail workers could be entitled to bring claims for equal pay.