More than 44,000 female Asda workers now one-step closer to claiming for equal pay discrimination

MORE than 44,000 Asda employees can now claim for equal pay discrimination, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Supermarket bosses lost a legal battle with store workers over claims distribution centre employees are unfairly paid more.

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Around two thirds of shop floor staff affected are women, while the majority of warehouse workers are men.

Leigh Day lawyers – who represented shop workers – argued that gender played a part in distribution staff being paid between £1.50 and £3 an hour more.

Asda bosses said store jobs are not comparable to distribution centre jobs but Supreme Court justices today ruled against the retailer.

Judges ruled against the supermarket on Friday after considering arguments at a hearing in July.

The dispute has been running since 2016, when an Employment Tribunal judge decided that supermarket staff were entitled to compare themselves to warehouse workers.

The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal last January, but Asda bosses have continued to argue that the jobs are not the same.

Lawyers say the ruling will have implications for employees at other supermarket and retailers.

If all the supermarkets were found to be in breach of equal pay laws, they could face a total bill of around £8billion as any previous employees would be entitled to bring a claim against them, the lawyers previously estimated.

One of the women taking the supermarket to court was former employee of 32 years, Wendy Arundale.

She said: “I loved my job, but knowing that male colleagues working in distribution centres were being paid more left a bitter taste in my mouth.  

“It’s not much to ask to be paid an equal wage for work of equal value, and I’m glad that Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as all the other courts.”

However, the lawyers added the store workers’ fight could run on for years.

The next stage involves an employment tribunal deciding whether specific store and distribution jobs were of “equal value”.

If judges agree, the legal battle would then enter a third stage, which would see an employment tribunal consider whether there were other reasons for the pay difference.

“It’s our hope that Asda will now stop dragging its heels and pay their staff what they are worth,” said Lauren Lougheed, a partner in the employment team at Leigh Day.

An Asda spokesperson told The Sun the case was “complex”.

They said: “We are defending these claims because the pay in our stores and distribution centres is the same for colleagues doing the same jobs regardless of their gender.

“Retail and distribution are very different sectors with their own distinct skill sets and pay rates. 

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“Asda has always paid colleagues the market rate in these sectors and we remain confident in our case.”

Research has shown that lockdown threatens to widen the gender pay gap, meaning women won’t earn as much as men for decades longer.

Here’s everything you need to know about the gender pay gap.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk