Tesco workers win European Court verdict over equal pay

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Tesco shop workers can look to European law to determine equal pay by comparing themselves with employees working in the distribution centres, after a European Court ruling today (3 June). The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that workers can rely directly on equal pay rights set out in European law, over and above domestic law. It said it agreed that Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union must be interpreted as having direct effect in equal value proceedings. Equal pay laws have been taken into UK law since Brexit so the European Court's judgment still holds sway although it remains to be seen to what extent if any Tesco would have to comply with the verdict. [pullquote]There is now no legal stone left to turn over on the issue of comparability and Tesco should accept store staff can compare themselves with those working in distribution centres” –Emily Fernando, senior associate at Harcus Sinclair [/pullquote] The judgment follows a Supreme Court ruling in March that workers from Asda could compare themselves with employees working in its own distribution centres and is the latest victory for Tesco workers in their equal pay fight against the UK’s largest supermarket. The Asda decision focused on domestic law, whereas the latest ruling was handed down by the European court in answer to written questions in 2019 by Watford Employment Tribunal and agreed between the parties in the Tesco case. Law firm Leigh Day, which represents a large number of the Tesco workers, asked the court to rule on a specific aspect of European law – whether the so-called “single source” test applies to businesses in the UK. Under EU law, a worker can be compared with somebody working in a different establishment if a “single source” has the power to correct the difference in pay. The European Court stated that: “Tesco stores appears to constitute, in its capacity as employer, a single source to which the pay conditions of the workers performing their work in its stores and distribution centres may be attributed.” Kiran Daurka, a partner at Leigh Day, said: “This judgment reinforces the Supreme Court's ruling that the roles of shop floor workers can be compared to those of their colleagues in distribution centres for the purposes of equal pay.