Tesco has been refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court over a key ruling in its long-running equal pay dispute with more than 16,000 current and former shop workers.

The decision leaves in place a Court of Appeal judgment handed down in May, which upheld an Employment Tribunal’s approach to deciding what work Tesco’s customer assistants and warehouse staff are required to do.

Tesco had challenged the tribunal’s use of the supermarket giant‘s own training materials and operational documents to establish job duties.

The Court of Appeal ruled that these materials could be used to determine what employees were expected to do, unless there was clear evidence to the contrary.

Tesco sought permission to take the case to the Supreme Court, which refused its application on 29 September.

The wider legal action involves predominantly female shop workers who argue they have been paid less than predominantly male distribution centre workers for work of equal value.

Representing the claimants, Leigh Day employment partner Kiran Daurka said: “This is a significant outcome for the 16,000 Tesco workers we represent and brings Tesco’s challenge on this issue to an end.”

She added that the courts had confirmed tribunals could rely on employers’ own training and operational materials when assessing job duties, helping equal pay claims to be decided “fairly, proportionately and without unnecessary obstacles”.

The wider equal pay litigation is continuing, with other retailers, such as Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons all facing their own legal cases.

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