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Asda workers ‘on the cusp of justice’ after landmark equal pay ruling

Asda workers ‘on the cusp of justice’ after landmark equal pay ruling

Tens of thousands of Asda workers, predominantly women, are on the brink of receiving historic payouts following a landmark ruling in the supermarket’s ongoing equal pay case.

A recent decision by the Manchester Employment Tribunal has concluded that many roles typically held by women – including checkout assistants, customer service representatives, and shop floor assistants – are of “equal value” to the better-paid warehouse positions, largely staffed by men.

The Tribunal compared 14 shop floor roles at the supermarket with 17 higher-paid warehouse positions and ruled that 12 of the shopfloor jobs were of equal value to at least some of the warehouse roles.

In one case, all the roles were deemed equal. However, the Tribunal did not find two positions – personal shopper and shop floor assistant (edible grocery) – to be of equal value during the period between August 2008 and June 2014, which has been considered a setback by legal representatives.

Despite this, the overall ruling marks a major victory for the workers involved, confirming that their roles are comparable to those of their male counterparts in the warehouse.

The next stage of the case will focus on whether Asda can justify the pay gap with a reason that is not related to gender. Lawyers at Leigh Day, representing more than 60,000 workers, are hopeful that the claim could result in substantial compensation, potentially amounting to as much as £1.2bn.

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With Asda employing over 127,000 shop floor workers across its 1,200 UK stores, the number of current and former employees joining the legal claim is steadily rising.

Leigh Day partner Lauren Lougheed said: “This is a significant step for the thousands of Asda store workers who have established equal value.

“Our clients have fought for over ten years to achieve recognition of the value of their work and I am so pleased for them.”

She added: “We hope that Asda will now focus on resolving their cases quickly, rather than prolonging the process.”

GMB Union, which represents the workers alongside Leigh Day, described the employees as “on the cusp of equal pay justice”.

GMB Union national officer Nadine Houghton 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.

“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.”

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.”  

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