A tribunal into equal pay at supermarket giant ASDA, will go ahead as the store fails to block the case.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the equal pay employment tribunal will go ahead, after ASDA attempted to halt the proceedings, meaning the employees would have to appeal to the High Court.
ASDA claimed that the High Court needed to hear the case due to its unique nature. However, the court ruled that although the case was complex, it did not pose any vastly different issues to other equal pay court cases.
As reported last month, over 7,000 employees are taking the supermarket to court over claims that workers in the distribution depots earn substantially more than those working in the retail stores.
The action group, comprising of mainly women working hourly-paid roles in the company’s stores, began their legal campaign back in October 2014. If the claimants are successful, they could win up to six years of back pay for the difference in wages.
A spokesperson for ASDA said, “The ruling from the Court of Appeal relates solely to the way the case will proceed in the courts – it has nothing to do with the merits of the case itself.”
“Whilst we respect the court’s decision, we continue to strongly dispute the claims being made against us in the employment tribunal.”
“This is a legal case about different rates of pay for different jobs. We believe that jobs in question are very different in terms of their demands, and we strongly dispute the claims being made.”
“At ASDA people doing the same job are paid the same. Men and women doing the same job in our retail stores are paid the same. Men and women doing the same job in our distribution and logistics centre are paid the same.”
“Pay rates in stores and depots differ for legitimate reasons, including the different market rates for different jobs.”
