Supermarket chain Morrisons faces equal pay claims worth 1 billion pounds

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Supermarket chain Morrisons faces equal pay claims worth 1 billion pounds

 

FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk past a branch of the food retailer Morrisons in west London, Britain, January 7, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Supermarket chain Morrisons is facing equal pay claims worth over 1 billion pounds ($1.30 billion), law firm Leigh Day said on Tuesday, seeking compensation for women who believe they were paid less than men in distribution centers.

 

Leigh Day said in a statement https://www.leighday.co.uk/News/News-2018/September-2018/Morrisons-facing-equal-pay-claim-worth-over-1-bill that Morrisons has around 80,000 store staff eligible to claim, which could result in a bill for back pay of over 1 billion pounds if the retailer's action are found unlawful.

 

The law firm, which is already working on claims on behalf of 30,000 workers in Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco Plc said in February that Tesco was facing a potential bill of up to 4 billion pounds in an equal pay claim involving women workers at its British stores.

 

"We believe that Morrisons, as with the other major supermarkets, has underpaid those working in its stores for a number of years," Emma Satyamurti, a partner in Leigh Day, said in the statement. "The big four supermarkets in the UK make vast amounts each year in profits – it is time that they faced up to their legal obligations under Equal Pay legislation."

 

Morrisons was asked by the law firm if it carried out an equal pay audit, Leigh Day said.

 

A spokesperson for Morrisons said: “We are not aware of any court proceedings issued by a third party. We have received a letter asking us a number of questions about our pay policies. Our aim is to pay our colleagues fairly and equally for the job that they do, irrespective of their gender.”

 

Leigh Day also said it believed employees working in male-dominated distribution centers were paid considerably more than largely female-staffed stores.

 

(Reporting by Philip George in Bengaluru and James Davey; Editing by Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-12

[DoctorG]

Is this the case where the females doing cushy jobs inside the store wanted the same pay as the guys lugging stuff around in the warehouse?

If so, then insane.

[connda]

Some lawyers smell blood in the water. 

[teatree]

Different jobs hence different pay.

[Basil B]

8 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Is this the case where the females doing cushy jobs inside the store wanted the same pay as the guys lugging stuff around in the warehouse?

If so, then insane.

I see no difference in someone working in a warehouse making up orders on to pallets and the persons working back of store unpacking them pallet, male or female... 

[Basil B]

1 hour ago, teatree said:

Different jobs hence different pay.

Quite often same job just decried differently to justify different pay.

Edited September 12, 2018 by Basil B

[teatree]

8 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Quite often same job just decried differently to justify different pay.

Can you provide evidence?

 

As far as I know the difference is between the pay scale at the central warehouse (mainly male) and the various branches (largely female)

 

Different pay scales but different skill requirements and different risks to health.

[khundon]

15 minutes ago, teatree said:

Can you provide evidence?

 

As far as I know the difference is between the pay scale at the central warehouse (mainly male) and the various branches (largely female)

 

Different pay scales but different skill requirements and different risks to health.

So, in your opinion, it takes more skill to find and load certain boxes of products onto a pallet in a wharehouse, than to find certain boxes of products on a pallet in a shop, unpacked them and put them on a shelf.

Rubbish. 

 

Your  “Risks to health” won’t fly either. 

[teatree]

7 hours ago, khundon said:

So, in your opinion, it takes more skill to find and load certain boxes of products onto a pallet in a wharehouse, than to find certain boxes of products on a pallet in a shop, unpacked them and put them on a shelf.

Rubbish. 

 

Your  “Risks to health” won’t fly either. 

A central warehouse needs teams of forklift truck operators.  The responsibility is far greater - if you put a stack of pallets on the lorry to Glasgow instead of Guildford then there is a big logistical problem.  If Mavis puts the wrong box on her trolley in the store all she has to do is spend 2 minutes going round back to change it.  And how many of the staff in a store are sitting on down in a comfortable environment scanning barcodes at the checkout instead of doing heavy lifting?

 

The central warehouses are far bigger, with far higher stacks of goods and forklifts whizzing around all the time and therefore pose a great risk to injury.  Plus, they are not air conditioned in the same way a store which are made very comfortable for the customers benefit.

 

Women are not barred from working the warehouses and the stores do not employ exclusively women, so I don't see how legal action will go anywhere.