Four-hundred Next workers are one step closer to equal pay after the chain conceded that they can compare their roles to that of colleagues in distribution centres and warehouses.
Shop floor employees have brought equal pay claims against the retail giant over a pay difference between warehouse and store jobs.
They argue that their work is as demanding as distribution centre and warehouse roles – and that they should therefore be paid equally.
Next store staff, 86% of whom are women, earn on average between £2 and £6 less per hour than distribution centre workers.
The comparability test is the first stage in a three-step process for equal pay claims.
Are you a Next employee affected by this? Get in touch: emma.munbodh@mirror.co.uk
Next must now show that the roles are not of equal value, or if they are, that there is a reason, other than gender, as to why the roles are not paid equally.
The equal value part of the claim is already underway and being represented by law firm Leigh Day, which is bringing similar claims forward against Tesco, Morrisons and several more supermarkets.
Last month, thousands of Tesco shop floor workers won a legal argument in their fight for equal pay when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the 'single source' test applies to businesses in the UK.
That 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.
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The CJEU ruling follows a landmark judgment handed down by the Supreme Court in March 2021 which ruled that Asda shop floor workers can compare their roles to those of their colleagues in distribution centres for the purposes of equal pay.
Elizabeth George, employment barrister at Leigh Day, said: “This is very welcome news for all the hardworking Next store staff involved in this claim.
“They can now move forward, and the employment tribunal can focus on the question that is the crux of these claims: is store work of equal value to the work in the warehouses?
“I believe the answer should, and will be, an emphatic yes, but only time will tell.”
