The Next Equal Pay Decision: Market Forces Not Enough To Justify Differences

After a 6 year legal battle, the retailer Next may be required to pay out in excess of £30 million to approximately 3,500 store employees, following their failure to demonstrate that the pay disparity between their store workers (who are mainly women) and their warehouse workers (who are mainly men) was not sex discrimination. This is the first equal pay claim against a major retailer to be heard by the tribunal and therefore is expected to have wide-reaching consequences in how employers determine their pay practices.

Next's Case

In 2018, store consultants at Next brought an equal pay claim. Under the Equality Law Act 2010, if 2 employees perform work of equal value, then they must be paid the same, unless a material factor can justify the difference. The store consultants argued that they were paid less than warehouse workers yet their work had the same value. The Tribunal agreed that the work was of equal value in an earlier hearing in 2023.