"Morrisons workers win key legal battle in equal pay fight", 28 Sep 2021

… [T]he decision handed down by … [the] Leeds Employment Tribunal … confirmed that Morrisons’ retail workers can rely on the supermarket’s distribution centre workers as comparators in their claims for equal pay.

Mostly female retail staff have been fighting for similar wages to those of mostly male workers in warehouses.

Morrisons argued that the tribunal should find that the retail staff cannot be compared to the distribution centre workers because each Morrisons distribution centre has individual, collectively bargained terms and conditions.

The supermarket said this means the employment terms of distribution centre workers are not common across all sites, so retail workers cannot be compared to them as a group.

The ruling adds to a growing body of case law supporting accusations of pay discrimination against other supermarkets, with shop floor workers typically earning £1 to £2 less than staff in depots.

[The Court noted] ‘Responsibility for any inequality, and for putting it right, remains with the board’.

More than 40,000 equal pay claims have been made by employees against supermarkets, with payouts reportedly reaching millions due to unfair treatment of staff.