Supermarket pay row | Tesco heads to Court of Appeal in £4bn equal pay dispute

Tesco has returned to the Court of Appeal to challenge an earlier tribunal decision, in a long‑running legal case that could cost the retailer up to £4 billion. About 49,000 current and former store staff, most of them women, allege they are paid less than the largely male workforce in Tesco’s distribution centres for work of equal value.

Row centres on expert evidence

At the heart of the latest argument is whether Tesco can rely on an economist to argue that market forces - rather than sex - explain the gap between shop‑floor and warehouse pay. 

A 2024 Employment Tribunal rejected the evidence, but the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) later ruled the judge had misunderstood Tesco’s case and said the expert analysis should be admitted. Tesco is now seeking further clarity from the Court of Appeal before the claim proceeds to a full merits hearing.

Alex Elliott, a solicitor in Birketts’ employment team, said the dispute is part of a broader battle over the “equal work” rules set out in the Equality Act 2010: "This case, along with others (particularly in the retail sector) concerns the principle that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work.