Britain's Tesco faces record 5.6 billion US dollar equal pay claim

APD NEWS

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Supermarket group Tesco is facing a potential bill of up to 4 billion pounds (about 5.6 billion US dollars) due to a record equal pay claim mainly involving female workers at its British stores, according to the law firm pursuing the case.

If the claim is successful it could have huge implications for British industry. However, it is likely to be bogged down in the courts for years.

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 employees in Tesco’s distribution centers were paid considerably more than its largely female store workers.

The real size of the disparity in pay between distribution center staff, who may earn more than 11 pounds an hour and in-store staff, whose wages are commonly around 8 pounds per hour, may be complicated to gauge as different roles are being compared.

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 the BBC's China Editor led to an investigation into pay differences at the public broadcaster.

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

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

Leigh Day said more than 200,000 Tesco employees may be underpaid and estimated shortfalls could reach 20,000 pounds each, meaning the potential bill for Tesco could be as high as 4 billion pounds.

Crowley Woodford, employment partner at law firm Ashurst, said if the Tesco employees’ claim was successful “all major retailers, and indeed businesses more generally, could be exposed to a tidal wave of equal pay litigation.”

(REUTERS)