Next Wins Appeal Overturning 2024 Equal Pay Ruling on Shop Staff Wages

UK retailer Next has overturned a 2024 court ruling that had required it to pay its shop staff the same higher basic pay rates as its warehouse workers under equal pay rules, according to the company.

Next, led by Conservative peer Simon Wolfson, said it had "won a landmark victory in its ongoing equal pay litigation." The company stated it had succeeded in its appeal to the employment appeal tribunal "on the key issue of basic pay."

The original 2024 ruling had found in favour of shop workers, predominantly women, who argued their roles were of equal value to those of warehouse staff, who were predominantly men and received higher basic pay. That decision had ordered Next to equalise basic pay rates between the two groups.

Details of the tribunal's full reasoning and the implications for the broader equal pay litigation, including potential further appeals, were not immediately available.