Today the Supreme Court ruled that Asda shop floor workers can compare their roles to those in the distribution, but what the Asda Supreme Court ruling mean for Next store staff? Here, Elizabeth George, a barrister in the employment team, explains.
Asda has hit the headlines today after suffering a big blow in the Supreme Court.
This is the final court of appeal in the UK, so it was Asda’s last chance to argue that the roles cannot be compared.
This is a big win for Asda store workers, but it’s also a very important ruling for the Next store staff and their equal pay claims. Here we look at what the Asda Supreme Court ruling mean for Next store staff.
What does this mean for my claim?
We will now invite Next to drop this part of their defence on the basis that, following the Supreme Court ruling, it’s highly unlikely they can successfully argue that Next store staff cannot compare their roles to warehouse staff.
Does this mean the Asda claim is over?
No, but Asda shop floor workers have won the first stage.
They will now push ahead with the second stage of their case, which is to show that the roles of shop floor workers are of equal value to distribution staff.
This process is already well under way.
How does this impact Next workers?
We have also moved forward with the all-important second stage so as not to lose time while the Supreme Court was deciding the Asda appeal.
We are in the process of selecting a representative group of job roles to be assessed and in May we will be back in the Employment Tribunal to confirm our choices.
The judge will then appoint an assessor to carry out the assessments including visits to the warehouses and the stores.
Expert assessors will draw up factors to compare the different roles and score them. The tribunal will then decide if they agree with the scoring and make a ruling on whether the roles are of equal value.
If the roles are of equal value, then Next must prove that they have a genuine reason, for paying the store staff less. That reason must free from any sex discrimination. This is known as ‘material factor defence’.
If Next fail in their material factor defence, and the judgment is not appealed, the claims will have been successful, and compensation will be decided.
When will compensation be awarded?
The tribunals are committed to getting these cases dealt with as quickly as possible, but they take longer than single employment cases because of the number of people involved.
Claims like this are also worth a lot of money so employers are likely to fight each stage.
The good news is that, with the Next claim, we are over the halfway point.
If we win we can reasonably expect average awards in the region £6,000. For many, the figure is much higher. Interest is also awarded (8% per year) for everyone who has submitted their claim.
What is Leigh Day doing for you?
Although the Next equal pay claim might seem complex and technical, the heart of the case is a very simple principle: work traditionally carried out by women has been undervalued compared to traditional male roles.
Leigh Day is now representing more than 50,000 store workers bringing equal pay claims to challenge that historical wrong.
This Asda decision means that we are one step closer to achieving that.
If you would like to find out more information about the Next Equal Pay claim and how you can join, please visit our Next Equal Pay page here.
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