Thousands of workers at UK retailer Next win equal pay case Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – More than 3,500 current and former workers at British retailer Next have won a six-year legal battle for equal pay, lawyers representing the claimants said on Tuesday.

An employment tribunal ruled that Next failed to show that paying its sales consultants, who are mostly women, lower rates of pay than warehouse workers did not amount to sex discrimination, Leigh said Day, the law firm representing the workers.

The workers in the claim would be entitled to back pay for up to six years before bringing the action and for the period after, a total estimated at more than 30 million pounds ($39.6 million), the statement said.

Leigh Day said the decision would be a “huge boost” to the 112,000 staff it represents in similar cases at companies including Asda, Tesco (OTC:), Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and the Co-op, although each will be decided on own facts.

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

Helen Scarsbrook, one of the three main claimants, said: “It’s been six long years fighting for the equal pay we felt we rightfully deserved, but today we can say we’ve won.”

Leigh Day partner Elizabeth George said the claim was exactly the type of discrimination the equal pay legislation was intended to tackle.

“When female-dominated jobs pay less than male-dominated jobs and the work is equal, employers cannot underpay women simply by pointing to the market and saying – it’s the going rate for 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 doing so was purely financial, she said.

He then said the tribunal dismissed most of the claims, including all direct discrimination claims and the bonus payment.

“Regarding the specific terms in which the application was successful, it is our intention to appeal,” it said in a statement.

“This is the first private sector equal pay class action to reach a decision at Tribunal level and raises a number of important points of legal principle.”

($1 = £0.7579)