Tesco faces £4bn equal pay claim from women staff

TESCO could face a £4billion bill as women workers challenge the supermarket giant on equal pay.

Staff who work on checkouts and stack shelves say they should be paid the same as men in warehouses who get around £5,000 more a year.

More than 200,000 workers could be owed up to £20,000 each, based on six years of back pay, if the women win their case. A victory against Britain’s biggest private sector employer could set a precedent for scores of other retailers, sparking demands for billions of pounds more in back pay.

Leigh Day, the law firm acting on behalf of 100 female Tesco workers, say the warehouse jobs which are largely held by men should be viewed as equivalent to shop floor roles, the majority of which are taken by women.

Warehouse workers are paid in excess of £11 per hour, while Tesco’s checkout staff and shelf- stackers get £8. The difference is equivalent to around £100 per week.

A woman who worked at Tesco for the full six years covered by the claim could be entitled to £30,000. However, Leigh Day estimates the average payout will be £20,000 as most had not worked there that long. Leigh Day will this week take the initial legal steps for 100 Tesco staff but said up to 200,000 workers could be affected, the majority of them women.

Paula Lee, of Leigh Day, said: ‘We believe an inherent bias has allowed store workers to be underpaid for many years.

‘In terms of equal worth to the company there really should be no argument that workers in stores, compared to those working in distribution centres, contribute at least equal value to the vast profits made by Tesco which last year had group sales of £49.9billion.’

Crowley Woodford, employment partner at law firm Ashurst, said if the claim succeeds ‘ all major retailers, and businesses more generally, could be exposed to a tidal wave of equal pay litigation’.

Similar cases are being brought against Asda and Sainsbury’s with about 3,000 workers complaining that the supermarkets are not offering equal pay. Asda lost at an employment tribunal in 2016 but is preparing to appeal.

However, analysts at HSBC said: ‘This is not a gender pay issue. Tesco, like Sainsbury, Asda and all retailers, pays the same for the same experience and the same work, regardless of gender.

‘If stores and warehouses paid the same rates, we suspect most workers would opt to work in a store over a warehouse and that if pay rates were the same there could be a shortage of warehouse workers across the industry.’

Tesco said it has not been approached by Leigh Day.

A spokesman said: ‘We are unable to comment on a claim we have not received. Tesco has always been a place for people to get on in their career, regardless of gender, background or education, and we work hard to make sure all our colleagues are paid fairly and equally for the jobs they do.’