Asda loses latest round of long-running staff battle over equal pay

Asda has lost the latest round of a long-running legal battle with its staff over equal pay.

The retail giant challenged an Employment Appeal Tribunal decision that jobs in Asda stores are comparable with those in the firm’s distribution centres.

Giving judgment at the Court of Appeal in London on Thursday, senior judges dismissed Asda’s appeal and ruled in favour of thousands of retail workers, mostly women, who argue they should be paid the same as those working in the supermarket’s depots.

Lord Justice Underhill, sitting with Lord Justice Peter Jackson and Lord Sales, ruled that for both retail workers and distribution workers “Asda applied common terms and conditions wherever they work”.

The judge added that Asda’s application to appeal to the Supreme Court had been refused.

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