[UK] Next’s winning appeal overturns £30m equal pay ruling

In the UK, fashion and home retailer Next has won an appeal allowing it to continue paying warehouse workers a higher hourly rate than shop floor staff, BBC News reports.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned a key part of a landmark 2024 ruling which found Next was wrong to pay its warehouse staff higher basic pay than shop floor workers for jobs of equal value.

More than 3,500 current and former employees, mostly women, were reportedly poised to share potentially more than £30m in back pay as a result of that judgement.

The law firm Leigh Day represents the store workers. It described the decision on basic pay as "disappointing" and said it will appeal.

The tribunal accepted that Next was justified in paying higher rates due to recruitment and retention pressures for warehouse workers.

Next reportedly called the decision a "landmark victory", succeeding on the "key issue of basic pay".

It said in a statement, "The importance of this decision is that the Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that it was justifiable for Next to rely on market forces to distinguish between different groups of employees, where there was a good rationale to pay one group more than the other.

"In this case, Next had to pay a higher market rate to warehouse operatives because of recruitment and retention pressures, which did not apply to the workforce in its stores. Next believes this element of the judgment is not only correct in law, but also a victory for common sense.

"The judgment affirms a principle at the heart of any effective employment market - that employers must be able to pay what is necessary to recruit the people they need; and that doing so does not oblige them to raise the pay of other employees where there is no reason to do so."

Leigh Day stated that judges had upheld 2024 findings on night-time premiums, overtime premiums and paid rest breaks.

Next said it will now seek permission to appeal these decisions.

The original Employment Tribunal and the Appeal Tribunal found no direct sex discrimination in Next's pay rates. Shop floor staff are predominantly women while warehouse workers are predominantly male.

Questions are now reportedly being raised about whether the result could set a precedent across the industry. Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsbury's have faced in similar long-running claims, making these findings significant.

Source: BBC News

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

In the UK, fashion and home retailer Next has won an appeal allowing it to continue paying warehouse workers a higher hourly rate than shop floor staff, BBC News reports.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned a key part of a landmark 2024 ruling which found Next was wrong to pay its warehouse staff higher basic pay than shop floor workers for jobs of equal value.

More than 3,500 current and former employees, mostly women, were reportedly poised to share potentially more than £30m in back pay as a result of that judgement.

The law firm Leigh Day represents the store workers. It described the decision on basic pay as "disappointing" and said it will appeal.

The tribunal accepted that Next was justified in paying higher rates due to recruitment and retention pressures for warehouse workers.

Next reportedly called the decision a "landmark victory", succeeding on the "key issue of basic pay".

It said in a statement, "The importance of this decision is that the Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that it was justifiable for Next to rely on market forces to distinguish between different groups of employees, where there was a good rationale to pay one group more than the other.

"In this case, Next had to pay a higher market rate to warehouse operatives because of recruitment and retention pressures, which did not apply to the workforce in its stores. Next believes this element of the judgment is not only correct in law, but also a victory for common sense.

"The judgment affirms a principle at the heart of any effective employment market - that employers must be able to pay what is necessary to recruit the people they need; and that doing so does not oblige them to raise the pay of other employees where there is no reason to do so."

Leigh Day stated that judges had upheld 2024 findings on night-time premiums, overtime premiums and paid rest breaks.

Next said it will now seek permission to appeal these decisions.

The original Employment Tribunal and the Appeal Tribunal found no direct sex discrimination in Next's pay rates. Shop floor staff are predominantly women while warehouse workers are predominantly male.

Questions are now reportedly being raised about whether the result could set a precedent across the industry. Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsbury's have faced in similar long-running claims, making these findings significant.

Source: BBC News

(Link and quotes via original reporting)