Tesco faces record $5.6b equal pay claim

Supermarket group Tesco is facing a potential bill of up to 4 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) to bring the wages of its female employees into line with men, according to the law firm pursuing Britain’s largest equal pay claim.

Tesco is Britain’s biggest retailer and its largest private sector employer with more than 310,000 staff.

Law firm Leigh Day said on Wednesday the mainly male staff in the company’s distribution centres were paid considerably more than its largely female store workers. The law firm said it was also working on claims at supermarket rivals Sainsbury’s and Asda, the British arm of Walmart.

Unequal pay for men and women is currently a hot topic in Britain’s boardrooms and corridors of power. The resignation last month of Carrie Gracie as China Editor for the BBC led to an investigation into pay differences at the public broadcaster.

British Business Secretary Greg Clark told Sky News he was “surprised” by the scale of the claim against Tesco.

A Tesco spokesman stated the firm had not yet received a claim.

“Tesco has always been a area for human beings to get on in their career, regardless of their gender, background or education, and we work hard to make certain all our colleagues are paid fairly and equally for the jobs they do,” he said.

Tesco shares were down 0.9 percentage at 1010 GMT.

Leigh Day stated Tesco distribution centre workforce may additionally earn in extra of 11 kilos ($15.4) an hour, while the most frequent grade for shop personnel saw them acquire around eight pounds per hour.

This disparity could see a full time distribution worker on the same hours earning over a hundred kilos a week – or 5,000 kilos a 12 months – more than female save staff.

The law company said extra than 200,000 Tesco employees may additionally be underpaid and estimated shortfalls may want to attain 20,000 kilos each, which means the manageable bill for Tesco should be as high as four billion pounds.

Leigh Day said it had already started submitting claims on behalf of its customers through conciliation service ACAS, the first stage in the Employment Tribunal process.

It said it had been approached via over 1,000 personnel and former employees of Tesco.

“In terms of equal well worth to the enterprise there certainly have to be no argument that people in stores, compared to those working in distribution centres, make contributions at least equal value to the large income made by means of Tesco,” said Leigh Day employment attorney Paula Lee.

The firm stated it was once also representing over 20,000 shop-floor workers in equal pay claims towards rival grocery store agencies Sainsbury’s and Asda.