Several thousand former and current Next employees in the UK have won a landmark equal pay claim against the high street retailer after a six-year legal battle.
An employment tribunal involving 3,540 claimants has ruled that Next failed to demonstrate that the lower basic wage paid to sales consultants compared with warehouse operatives was not the result of sex discrimination.
Between 2012 and 2023, the period examined by the tribunal, 77.5% of retail consultants at the fashion and homeware retailer were female, and 52.75% of warehouse operators were male, according to the ruling.
Under equal pay law, work of equal value at the same company must be paid equally unless an employer can demonstrate that the difference in wage is because of a "material factor" that is not sex discrimination.
During the tribunal, Next argued that the difference in the wages for the two roles was because the "market rate" for a sales consultant versus a warehouse operator was different and to ensure the "viability" of the business.
The tribunal accepted the discrepancy in pay between the roles was not because of "direct discrimination," including the "conscious or subconscious influence of gender" on pay rate decisions, and instead was driven by efforts to "reduce cost and enhance profit."
It ruled that the "business need was not sufficiently great as to overcome the discriminatory effect of lower basic pay" and that "there must usually be a more compelling business reason for such arrangements to be justifiable."
In a statement, Next said it intends to appeal against the ruling.
This is the first equal pay claim of its type against a national retailer to secure a win, said Leigh Day, the law firm representing thousands of claimants.
Helen Scarsbrook, 68, from Eastleigh near Southampton, who has worked for Next for more than 20 years and was one of three lead claimants representing all the sales consultants in the claim, said customer service was "demanding" and often "undervalued."
In a statement issued through Leigh Day, she said: "It has been a long six years battling for the equal pay we all felt we rightly deserved but today we can say we won."
Elizabeth George, Leigh Day partner and barrister representing the successful claimants, said the ruling was "hugely significant" and the case was "exactly the type of pay discrimination that equal pay legislation was intended to address."
