Thousands of current and former Next store workers have retained key elements of their equal pay victory, after the Employment Appeal Tribunal rejected several of the retailer’s challenges.
The fashion retailer appealed the original 2024 Employment Tribunal ruling, that stated 3,500 predominantly female store workers were entitled to equal pay with warehouse operatives for a range of payments and benefits.
Next challenged the Tribunal’s findings, which has since seen the number of claimants involved increase to 6000, that its pay practices disadvantaged women.
The Appeal Tribunal rejected Next’s challenges over whether its pay practices disadvantaged women, as well as its arguments that lower rates of night-time pay and overtime and the lack of paid rest breaks were justified.
It also rejected Next’s argument that lower Sunday premium payments were justified, although that issue will return to the Employment Tribunal for further consideration.
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However, the Appeal Tribunal overturned the original ruling on basic hourly pay, finding that Next’s need to recruit and retain warehouse staff provided sufficient justification for the higher rates paid to warehouse workers.
“I am pleased that the Employment Appeal Tribunal rejected Next’s arguments that its pay practices do not disadvantage women,” said the law firm representing the claimants, Leigh Day partner Elizabeth George.
“They plainly do and the Appeal Tribunal firmly recognised that. I am also pleased that the Tribunal upheld the findings on night-time premiums, overtime premiums and paid rest breaks.
“The Appeal Tribunal’s conclusion on basic pay is disappointing. Next pays market rates in both its stores and its warehouses in order to recruit and retain staff. The market rate is higher in the predominantly male warehouse labour market, even though the work carried out in stores has already been found to be equal work.
“If an employer need only show it pays the market rates to justify pay discrimination, the very market conditions that give rise to the discrimination then become the legal justification.
George added: “While the store staff and their legal team welcome many aspects of this appeal judgment, we respectfully disagree with this approach to justification. We remain confident in our clients’ position and intend to appeal.”
Next currently employs more than 20,000 store staff across 458 stores in the UK and Ireland. The basic pay difference during the claim period from 2012 to 2023 ranged from 38p to £3.13 per hour.
Next is not the only retailer to be accused of paying its employees unfairly. In April, Tesco and Morrisons faced a critical stage in long-running equal pay claims, with both grocer setting out their Material Factor Defence – explaining why pay differences existed and why they say those differences were not linked to sex discrimination.
Other supermarkets facing tribunal include Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Asda.
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