Leigh Day said the ruling would be a “huge encouragement” for 112,000 staff it was representing in similar cases at companies like Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Co-op, although each would be decided on its own facts.

 

A tribunal in Leeds, northern England, had ruled in 2023 that the work done by the women in Next stores was equal to the work in the warehouse in terms of the demands involved.

 

Helen Scarsbrook, one of the three lead claimants, said: “It has been a long six years battling for the equal pay we all felt we rightly deserved but today we can say we won.” Leigh Day partner Elizabeth George said the claim was exactly the type of discrimination that equal pay legislation was intended to address.

 

“When you have female dominated jobs being paid less than male dominated jobs and the work is equal, employers cannot pay women less simply by pointing to the market and saying “ it is the going rate for the jobs,” she said.

 

The tribunal found that Next could have afforded to pay a higher rate but chose not to and that the reason for that was purely financial, she said.

 

Next said the tribunal had rejected the majority of the claims, including all claims of direct discrimination and bonus pay.

 

“In respect of the specific terms in which the Claim succeeded, it is our intention to Appeal,” it said in a statement.

 

First Published: Aug 27 2024 | 11:03 AM IST