11 February 2018

Lawyers are warning private sector employers could face gender-based pay claims spurred by the Tesco case.

Around 100 Tesco employees, represented by law firm Leigh Day, have launched a group claim, arguing the work of female shop floor workers is equivalent to that of male warehouse staff, who currently earn £3 an hour more.

If successful, some 200,000 women could receive back pay totalling around £20,000 each and legal experts have said the case could cost Tesco as much as £4 billion. Similar litigation against another supermarket, Asda, is ongoing.

“There is a concern the Tesco claim means the levee for equal pay claims in the private sector will finally break,” said Paul Quain, partner at GQ Employment Law. “Large equal pay claims have been virtually unknown in the private sector while being relatively common in the public sector. Unions have been happy to fund cases in the public sector, but less so in the private sector where union membership is lower.”

But technology is now available to organise support for group claims. “Social media like WhatsApp and Facebook make it easy to pull together and manage a group of claimants from the grassroots level – you no longer need a union,” he added. Meanwhile, Crowley Woodford, employment partner at Ashurst, said: “All major retailers, and indeed businesses more generally, could be exposed to a tidal wave of equal pay litigation.”

Helen Watson, head of employment law at Aaron & Partners, said April’s gender pay reporting deadline is another factor. “The spotlight is now firmly on gender pay gap reporting. It’s clear the glass ceiling exists in many companies, and there’s clear inequality in what women at all levels of employment are receiving in terms of remuneration and opportunity. Our advice to the business community is to review the gender pay gap now and seek legal support and advice.”

Tags: equal pay, pay, Tesco