First 1,000 equal pay claims against Tesco
12 July 2018
Leigh Day law firm has announced that it has now lodged the first 1,000 equal pay claims against Tesco on behalf of female members of staff in potentially the largest ever equal pay challenge in UK history.
The legal action has been estimated as potentially costing the supermarket giant £4bn in compensation to workers.
According to the law firm they have received thousands of enquiries and expect the number of claims from Tesco staff, over the disparity in pay between store staff and those in the predominantly male-dominated distribution centres, to continue to rise.
Following the announcement in February 2018 that the firm was taking this legal action, lawyers in the employment team at Leigh Day have hosted meetings across the country and created a specialist unit to handle calls from women and men who work in the stores and are paid considerably less than their colleagues in the distribution centres.
Paula Lee one of the lawyers handling the Tesco claims at Leigh Day said:
“We’ve had an incredible response to the announcement of this legal action. Many proud members of staff have realised that this claim is not anti-Tesco, but it is to ensure that the work done in stores and distribution centres is recognised as being of equal value; not the same work, but work of equal value and that they should be paid the same as their colleagues in distribution.
Both store staff and distribution staff play an essential role in making billions of pounds for Tesco executives and shareholders, they should both be paid equally for what they contribute to the business. The concept of ‘women’s work’ is an outdated approach to employment from the middle of the last century which needs to be corrected.”