Asda workers one step closer to historic £1.2bn equal pay claim

Tens of thousands of Asda store workers have moved closer to potential payouts after the latest judgment in a historic equality claim.

An employment tribunal has ruled that most shop workers in the case have jobs of “equal value to higher-paid positions” in Asda’s warehouses.

The claim, which compared store roles largely occupied by women and distribution roles mostly performed by men, is being considered a landmark case for pay equality.

Unions have suggested the fresh tribunal ruling could pave the way for staff to receive back pay collectively worth up to £1.2bn.

The employment tribunal found in favour of 12 out of 14 women acting as lead claimants for store workers in the legal action, who were asking for their roles to be valued equally with those in the warehouses.

The judgment covers the period between August 2008 and June 2014.

It means tens of thousands of Asda shop floor workers have now won two out of the three stages of their equal pay claim.

However, it is understood that the ruling against two roles – personal shoppers and shop floor assistants for edible grocery – has struck off around 20% of all claims.

Law firm Leigh Day, which represents more than 60,000 workers in the Asda equal pay claim, is considering appealing these two positions.

Asda employs more than 127,000 shop floor workers across its 1,200 roughly stores in the UK.

Lauren Lougheed, partner at Leigh Day, 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.

“We hope that Asda will now focus on resolving their cases quickly rather than prolonging the process.

“Today’s ruling will, of course, be bitterly disappointing for our clients who work in job roles that were not found to be of equal value.”

Asda will seek to establish a “material factor”, such as market conditions, that has resulted in higher wages for the warehouse positions in the next phase of the process

An Asda spokesman 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.”