Historic equal pay win for tens of thousands of Asda workers

Tens of thousands of Asda’s checkout workers, customer service staff and shop floor assistants, most of whom are women, could be in line for historic payouts after the biggest ever private sector equal pay claim.

A court ruling has made clear that many of the roles on Asda’s shop floors, carried out mainly by women, are of “equal value” to the better-paid ones in the supermarket giant’s warehouses, which are predominantly filled by men.

The judges at the Manchester Employment Tribunal compared 14 shopfloor roles to 17 “comparator” roles carried out in warehouses – all of which are better paid.

It found that in 12 of the roles “equal value” was established with at least some of the “warehouse colleagues” – and in one case with all of them.

However, two of the roles did not meet the threshold, and Asda has already vowed to take the case to the next stage, in which it will argue that there are “material factors” beyond sex that explain why they are paying the predominantly male roles a higher wage.

More than 60,000 workers joined together to accuse the company of sex discrimination after it emerged that the warehouse workers were earning up to £3.74 more per hour.

The GMB Union and Leigh Day solicitors argued that it was an equal pay case because most of the shop floor workers were women, while the vast majority of those in the warehouses were men.

The employment tribunal’s decision to declare many of the roles of “equal value” to the warehouse jobs is a major step forward for the women – who could be in line for £1.2 billion of back-pay and an increased annual pay bill of £400 million.

As well as checkout operators and those on the customer service desk, the victory covered a number of shop floor assistants, including in chilled, baker, producer and home and leisure departments.

The two roles that were not found to be of equal value were a personal shopper (who picks and packs for customers’ online orders) and a shop floor assistant working on “edible grocery”.

The union and its lawyers say they are considering all available options, including the possibility of an appeal.

The result represents a second hurdle cleared for the workers who were successful in the case.

However, the supermarket stressed the roles that did not win, claiming the judgment had struck out 20% of claims.

They also pointed out that the judges had used the term “mixed picture” with the other roles. That was because in some cases – “equal value” was declared with some but not all warehouse roles. However, the lawyers representing the women say establishing “equal value” with any of the warehouse roles is enough because all of them are better paid.

That leaves Asda needing to establish a “material factor” – such as market conditions – that demands higher wages in the male-dominated part of its workforce.

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.”

The result comes after an email leaked to ITV News in the summer of 2023 revealed that an independent expert, who was commissioned by the court to compare the store workers’ jobs to those in the distribution centres, had concluded that the women’s roles were of equal value.

Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, said: “This is a historic step towards securing equal pay justice for tens of thousands of Asda workers, but it is tainted with bitter disappointment for those who now face an appeal.

“These women have been fighting for what they are owed for more than ten years and are close to ending the era of retailers systematically undervaluing women.

“It’s telling many of the roles judged to be of equal value are the traditional shop floor roles women have held in retail for so long.”

But she admitted it was a “crushing blow” for those where the roles were not considered to be equal value, which could cover up to a third of the claimants.

Nevertheless, it is a major victory for tens of thousands of those who brought the case.

“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,” Ms Houghton said.

Lauren Lougheed, Partner at Leigh Day, agreed that it was disappointing for some but a major victory for others: “Equal pay is a fundamental right, and this decision takes us one step closer to ensuring that the hardworking colleagues in Asda’s stores are not undervalued and are paid what they are owed.

“Our clients’ demand is clear: they want to be treated fairly. This means being paid the same as their colleagues in other parts of the business, who do work of equal value.”