News

Tesco to Pay £4bn in Equal Pay Claim

Avatar photo

7 February 2018

By Alex Khalil

Tesco is facing Britain’s largest ever equal pay claim, brought forward by Leigh Day. It could have a potential bill of £4bn for the company.

Thousands of women across the UK who work for the supermarket giant could receive a back pay of approximately £20,000 if the legal challenge is successful. Lawyers have confirmed that hourly-paid female staff are paid less than that of their male counterparts. The work was also comparable too.

Tesco said it worked hard to ensure all staff were paid ‘fairly and equally’.

Female workers could be up to £20,000 more well off should the lawsuit go through.

Leigh Day filed the lawsuit and even if a fraction of women need to be compensated, Tesco’s bill would still be pretty hefty.

This isn’t the first time a big company has been under fire for underpaying women. According to the Office for National Statistics, men earned 18.4% more than women in April of 2017. The BBC was under fire for paying its male presenters slightly more than the female presenters.

Other recent cases include the Lawn Tennis Association and a report that part-time mothers were affected the most.

If you want to read a bit more about the general disassociation companies have around the difference between men and women, have a read here. 

We’ll report back when, or if, this gets resolved.

Like this article? Please share!