Thousands of Tesco supermarket workers have submitted an application to the European Court of Justice for clarification on equal pay legislation.
Law firm Leigh Day is representing store workers at the supermarket chain, who are demanding equal pay with workers in its distribution centres.
The legal clarification will also seek to allow women to compare their pay against that of male colleagues employed by the same employer who work in different establishments.
The firm claims, a pre-Brexit referral to the European Court on whether EU law applies to Tesco would bind the UK government and apply to any future equal pay case, if the UK leaves under the terms of the withdrawal agreement
Kiran Daurka, solicitor in Leigh Day’s employment team, said: “We have made this application on behalf of our clients because employers have repeatedly argued that UK law is not clear.
“We hope that a judgment from Europe will make clear the rights of UK workers to bring equal pay claims. The UK’s equal pay laws are reinforced by EU law and we hope that the EU will give our clients the extra protection they should be entitled to.”
The firm currently represents over 40,000 store workers across five grocers in the UK – Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and the Co-op – in similar equal pay claims.
