Workers Win Round In Equal Pay Lawsuit Against Tesco

LONDON — The European Union’s Court of Justice concluded Thursday that more favourable EU regulations limiting comparisons between men and women apply to the case, giving workers at Britain’s largest grocery chain a victory in the latest round of their equal pay lawsuit against tesco.

Shop-floor workers at Tesco supermarkets, predominantly women, filed the lawsuit, alleging that they are underpaid in comparison to distribution personnel, who are predominantly male.

Because Tesco is a “single source” with the potential to redress any unfairness, the court determined that such a comparison is acceptable in this situation. According to the court, this applies to both problems of “equal effort” and “work of equal worth” because the lawsuit was brought before Britain left the EU.

The court noted in a statement that “where such pay circumstances can be linked to a single source, the work and remuneration of those individuals can be compared, even if they operate in separate establishments.”

An employment tribunal in the United Kingdom will now decide whether the workers were adequately compensated for their efforts.

While the workers’ attorneys hailed the ruling as a big win for their clients, Tesco argued the dispute was complicated and far from done.

“These occupations necessitate distinct abilities and expectations, resulting in salary disparities – but this has nothing to do with gender,” the business stated in a statement. “We appropriately compensate our employees for the work they perform, and we work hard to ensure that the compensation and benefits we provide are fair, competitive, and long-term.”

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom determined earlier this year that Asda store staff may relate their job to that of warehouse employees in a similar case.

The workers’ lawyer, Leigh Day, said the European court’s judgement confirms the Supreme Court’s judgement, and it’s now up to Tesco to adopt this idea.

In a statement, Kiran Dauka, a partner at Leigh Day, stated, “This means that employers may no longer hide behind the ambiguous areas of UK law.” “It’s past time for supermarkets to acknowledge that the duties of store employees and distribution centre employees are interchangeable.”