Leigh Day launches record £4 billion equal pay claim against Tesco

Leigh Day has announced the launch of what is potentially, at £4 billion, the largest ever equal pay challenge in UK history, aimed at Tesco.

Lawyers at the firm argue that employees working in the predominantly male-dominated distribution centres are paid considerably more than the largely female staffed Tesco stores, and may earn in excess of £11 an hour whilst the most common grade for store staff sees them receive around £8 an hour.

According to Leigh Day, who have already started submitting claims on behalf of their clients through ACAS, the first stage in the Employment Tribunal process, the underpayment of workers could apply to in excess of 200,000 Tesco employees, with estimated pay shortfalls that could reach £20,000, the final bill for Tesco could be as high as £4bn

In June 2016, the Employment Tribunal found that lower paid female ASDA workers, also represented by Leigh Day, could compare themselves to higher paid men who work in ASDA’s distribution centres.

Leigh Day is currently representing over 20,000 shop-floor workers in equal pay claims against fellow supermarket giants Sainsbury’s and ASDA, who both face similar claims of discrepancies in pay between the male dominated distribution centres and the mainly female staffed stores.

Paula Lee (pictured), the lawyer from the employment team at Leigh Day who is representing the Tesco women, 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 £49.9bn.”

She added: “According to the latest Annual Report from Tesco the remuneration package for the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer totalled £7.3m, yet figures show that Tesco employees are having to claim millions of pounds in working tax credits, paying people fairly benefits the whole of society.

“In the week where we have marked the 100 year anniversary since women began to get the vote, the time has come for companies and public organisations to have a long hard look at themselves, to see the inequality which is still deeply entrenched in their organisations.”