Co-op workers have made a significant step forward in their long-running equal pay battle, after a tribunal ruled that the comparison between warehouse and customer service roles should move to the next stage.
The stage two tribunal heard that many customer team members were subject to aggressive behaviour and verbal abuse on their shifts, and this risk was heightened during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also heard that retail staff often faced physical demands and risk of injury when carrying out tasks in store such as replacing stock.
The stage two proceedings aimed to raise the real-life responsibilities and working conditions of customer team members and warehouse roles so the two can be compared for the purposes of the equal pay claim.
The tribunal disagreed with Co-op’s claim that violence and verbal abuse were very rare in stores, instead hearing that these incidents happened on a weekly or even daily basis. The tribunal ruled that these incidents should be included in agreed job descriptions for comparison purposes.
According to law firm Leigh Day, which is representing more than 5,500 shop workers, warehouse roles were often task-based or carried out under close instruction. This went against claims by Co-op that warehouse roles were akin to self-employment. Instead, warehouse staff follow instructions from a Talkman system, rather than working independently.
Under the Equality Act 2010, jobs do not need to be identical to be considered equal. Instead, the court looks at the demands of the role, such as effort, skill, responsibility, and working conditions.
A further hearing is scheduled to take place later this year, where claimants hope the tribunal will move forward to stage three, the final step in deciding whether the roles are of equal value. Within this stage, lead claimants are only required to establish equal value with one or more of the lead comparators to win and for their claims to proceed to the next stage.
Co-op workers completed the first stage of the three-part comparability process in 2022. If the claims are successful, Co-op workers could receive up to six years of back pay and an increase in their hourly rate of pay.
Michael Newman, employment partner at Leigh Day, said: “This ruling provides further validation for our clients’ claims and sets the stage for a fair assessment of their work. The tribunal saw through Co-op’s attempts to downplay the challenges and skills involved in shop floor roles and acknowledged the value of what these workers do every day.
“For too long, retail workers, the majority of whom are women, have faced unjustifiable pay disparities despite performing roles that demand significant emotional intelligence, physical effort, problem-solving, and resilience. This judgment is a strong recognition that these roles are not only customer-facing but also involve a level of responsibility and initiative that cannot be ignored.
“It is also significant that the tribunal rejected attempts to artificially inflate the value of warehouse roles by including tasks that aren’t ever carried out. That clarity is essential as we now move into the next phase, where independent experts will conduct analysis of the jobs to assess whether they are of equal value. We believe this ruling brings Co-op shop workers an important step closer to the recognition and pay they rightly deserve.”
