Home›US Markets›Sectors›Next wins appeal to keep higher pay rates for warehous…

Next wins appeal to keep higher pay rates for warehouse workers

The Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned part of a 2024 equal pay ruling that had exposed the retailer to potentially more than £30m in back pay.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Sectors

Next has won an appeal that allows it to keep paying higher hourly rates to its warehouse workers than to its shop floor staff, in a long running equal pay dispute. BBC Business reports the Employment Appeal Tribunal removed a key element of a 2024 ruling that had found Next wrong to set higher basic pay for warehouse roles of equal value.

The 2024 decision had put more than 3,500 current and former employees, mainly women, on track for potentially over £30m in back pay. After Next appealed, the tribunal accepted that Next could justify the higher warehouse rates due to recruitment and retention pressures for warehouse roles.

Leigh Day, which represents store workers, called the outcome on basic pay disappointing and said it will appeal. Next said the ruling was a landmark victory, arguing that it could rely on market forces to pay one group more where there was a good rationale.

Judges also upheld other parts of the 2024 findings, including night-time premiums, overtime premiums, and paid rest breaks, and both the original and appeal tribunals found no direct sex discrimination in Next's pay rates. The BBC reports that other retailers including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsbury's are involved in similar claims and will be reviewing the decision for possible precedent implications across the industry.

More like this

Sources