Shop floor workers succeed at tribunal
Morrisons shop floor workers may have moved nearer to securing equal pay after the employment tribunal ruled their jobs can be compared with those in the company’s distribution centres.
Nearly 2,300 claimants, who are represented by law firm Leigh Day as part of the company’s Equal Pay Now campaign, will now need to identify male employees at the supermarket chain working in jobs of similar value. They can then argue that the roles are of equal value.
In June, thousands of Tesco shop floor workers won a legal argument when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the “single source” test applies to businesses in the UK. This means a worker can compare their role with somebody working in a different establishment if a “single source” has the power to correct the difference in pay.
That ruling followed a March Supreme Court judgment that confirmed that Asda shop floor workers could compare their roles to those of their colleagues in distribution centres for the purposes of equal pay.
Emma Satyamurti, a partner in the employment team at Leigh Day, commented: "This year has been a big one for supermarket equal pay claims. We hope that this will help Morrisons to recognise the hard work their shop floor staff do and finally pay their staff what they are worth.”