Thousands of Next workers are set to get thousands of pounds in compensation after winning their case for equal pay after a six-year legal struggle.
According to the BBC, more than 3,500 workers of the British store, both present and past, are among the claims to be paid back unpaid wages totalling more than 30 million pounds.
The majority-female group who came forwards shouldn’t have received less money than the employees in warehouses, who are mostly men, according to an employment tribunal.
However, after the tribunal rejected its claim that pay rates for warehouse workers were greater than for retail workers in the broader labour market, Next announced that it will appeal the decision.
In a statement to the media, the retailer said, “This is the first equal pay group action in the private sector to reach a decision at tribunal level and raises a number of important points of legal principle.”
It further noted that the tribunal found “there was no conscious or subconscious gender influence in the way Next set pay rates”.
