Next wins key appeal to overturn £30m equal pay ruling
Next has successfully appealed a 2024 ruling regarding equal pay for warehouse and shop floor staff. The tribunal determined that the retailer's use of market forces to justify higher pay for warehouse workers due to recruitment pressures was legally sound.
Why it matters
This decision sets a significant legal precedent for how UK employers can justify pay disparities between different departments based on market demand.
Image source, Getty Images By Emma Simpson Business correspondent Published 5 minutes ago Next has won an appeal allowing it to keep paying warehouse workers a higher hourly rate than shop floor staff in a long running battle over equal pay.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has overturned a key part of a landmark ruling in 2024 which found the retailer was wrong to pay its warehouse staff higher basic pay than shop floor workers for jobs of equal value.
More than 3,500 current and former employees, mainly women, had been set to share potentially more than £30m in back pay as a result of that judgement.
After Next's appeal, the law firm Leigh Day, which represents store workers, described the conclusion on basic pay as "disappointing" and said it will appeal the decision.
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