In the battle for equal pay rights, thousands of Asda workers have achieved a major victory against the supermarket giant.
An employment tribunal ruled that 12 out of 14 lead claimants, representing approximately 60,000 Asda employees – predominantly women in store roles – do jobs of equal value, despite being paid up to £3.74 less per hour than their mainly male warehouse colleagues.
Asda must now provide a reason for the difference in pay. If it cannot prove the reason isn’t about gender, the Asda store workers will likely win their lawsuit and be entitled to potentially thousands of pounds each in backpay.
This ruling could also have far-reaching implications for other supermarket workers, with similar equal pay claims underway against Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, and the Co-op.
Collectively, lawyers believe these cases could lead to compensation payouts amounting to £8 billion.
What is the Asda equal pay claim about?
The Equal Pay Act protects employees from unfair discrimination in the workplace. The law states that both men and women should be paid equally where they are doing the same job (or one of equal value). This means companies can’t treat you differently based on your gender when it comes to pay.
Despite this, the people who work in Asda’s warehouses, who are mostly men, get paid more than the people who work in its stores, who are usually women. Lawyers believe the only reason shop floor workers have not been paid equally is that Asda sees the work done by women as lesser in value.
The latest ruling adds weight to this argument, as the tribunal found only two store-based roles – online shopping packers and store workers handling only packaged or tinned groceries – did not meet the criteria for equal value. This could stop around 11,000 store workers from getting any backpay. However lawyers are considering appealing on behalf of these workers.
Asda maintains its pay structures are non-discriminatory, and will now provide a justification, unrelated to gender, for the existing pay disparities. Whether the tribunal accepts this explanation is yet to be seen.
Join the Asda equal pay compensation claim
Think you might have a Asda equal pay claim? Our simple online checker provides instant clarity. Answer a few straightforward questions to find out if you are eligible to join the Asda equal pay group action.
It only takes a few seconds to check and there’s no obligation to proceed.
And it’s not only women who can join the claim. While the pay difference is thought to be linked to gender, men who work, or have worked, on Asda’s shop floor can also claim for unpaid wages.
