ASDA in equal pay PR disaster

ASDA in equal pay PR disaster


It has recently come to light that ASDA is facing legal action from a large number of its workers, who are claiming that workers in ASDA’s distribution centres are being paid more than they are for checkout and other supermarket work. They argue that the work they are doing in the supermarkets themselves is of equal value to the work done at the distribution centres, and so they should be paid the same amount.

Leigh Day, the law firm representing the workers, has reported that it has received over 19,000 enquiries so far, mostly from female employees. Given that ASDA has roughly 175,000 employees, this could just be the tip of the iceberg, and if Leigh Day is successful in arguing that workers should be able to claim up to 6 years of lost pay (which ASDA dispute), ASDA could be ordered to make a massive pay-out. They would also have to provide a pay rise to affected staff to ensure that there is no repeat in the future.

To date, over 1,000 tribunal claims have been lodged against ASDA, but this number is expected to rise as the legal action gains more and more publicity, and more and more of ASDA’s workers realise that they might be in a position to bring a claim.