Retailer Next has been successful in an appeal against an Equal Pay ruling comparing it’s warehouse staff with it’s in store staff.
Under equal pay legislation it is unlawful to pay men and women different rates of pay for the same work but also work ‘rated as equivalent value’. It is this assessment of equivalent work which often proves most contentious as in this instance store staff sought to argue that their work was similar to that carried out in the warehouse, where staff were paid more. As the majority of store staff are women and the majority of warehouse staff are men the claim was triggered.
Whilst acknowledging the pay differential, Next argued that the difference in pay was due to market forces as they were struggling to recruit and retain warehouse staff. In the Employment Tribunal Next lost, but at the Employment Appeal Tribunal that judgment has been overturned.
This is an important judgment which will be of great use to employers seeking to justify paying different pay rates for work rated as equivalent value. Whilst the case is fact sensitive, and required extensive evidence of the market forces justifying the pay differential, it does demonstrate that factors such as difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff in certain roles can be justification for differences in pay.
With the Employment Rights Act 2025 being implemented over the coming months the rights of employees will become increasingly newsworthy, increasing the focus on rights such as to equal pay, discriminatory treatment and fairness of processes and procedures.
If you are an employer and you have not audited your HR function, contracts, policies, procedures and pay rates please contact our Employment Team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and will be more than happy to help.