Yesterday, the Court of Appeal in Asda Stores v Brierley ruled that female shop workers could compare themselves to male colleagues working in distribution centres.
In equal pay claims, claimants have to show that the comparators they have chosen are working at the same establishment or that they have ‘common terms’. In this case, the Court of Appeal has agreed with the claimants that there were “common terms” across sites and, as such, the claimants’ claims have been allowed to proceed.
The decision is interesting as shows that the courts are prepared to take a wide approach in determining “comparators”, in light of the fact that the two groups of employees conduct very different tasks within their roles on a day-to-day basis.
This is definitely one to watch for 2019, particularly for Sainsburys, Tesco and Morrisons who are facing similar claims!