Law firm Leigh Day have announced that legal proceedings have begun in the first equal pay claims against Tesco over disparity between store workers and depot workers’ pay. Lawyers argue that employees working in the predominantly male dominated distribution centres are paid considerably more than the largely female staffed Tesco stores, and may earn in excess of £11.00 an hour whilst the most common grade for store staff sees them receive around £8.00 per hour. Similar claims have been presented in ASDA Stores Ltd v Brierley & Ors, where ASDA are appealing to the Court of Appeal against the EAT’s ruling that 7,000 mainly female store workers can compare their work with that of distribution workers in an equal pay for work of equal value claim.

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