Store workers vs warehouse workers: how can different jobs be equal in value?

One of the biggest myths about supermarket equal pay claims is that store workers and warehouse workers must do identical jobs to be compared. They do not.

Equal pay law recognises that different jobs can still be of equal value.

What does "work of equal value" mean?

Work of equal value means the jobs may be different, but the demands of the work may be comparable.

The law looks at things like:

• skill;
• effort;
• responsibility;
• working conditions.

That is important because work traditionally done by women can be undervalued, even where it is demanding, skilled and essential to the business.

Why are supermarket store workers comparing themselves with warehouse workers?

The supermarket equal pay claims allege that mostly female store workers were paid less than mostly male warehouse or distribution centre workers.

Store workers may have served customers, handled stock, worked under time pressure, dealt with complaints, covered multiple departments, worked through peak periods and helped keep stores running.

Warehouse and distribution centre workers may have been paid more. The legal question is whether that difference was justified, or whether store work was of equal value and should have been paid equally.

Different does not mean less valuable

Store work and warehouse work are clearly not identical.

But different does not mean less valuable. A store worker may be customer-facing, responsible for stock, required to work quickly, expected to solve problems, and exposed to pressure from customers and managers. That work has value.

The supermarket equal pay claims ask whether that value was properly recognised.

Why this affects mostly women

These claims are strongly linked to gender because many supermarket store roles are held by women, while many warehouse and distribution roles are held by men.

The legal issue is whether work mainly done by women was paid less than work mainly done by men, even though the jobs may have been of equal value.

Do you have to be a woman to claim?

No.

If the female in store workers are successful, then they will be paid more than their male colleagues. So, the male in store workers will also have an equal pay claim. So, both men and women are eligible to join.

Why checking matters

You do not need to understand every legal detail before joining.

If you worked in-store, were paid by the hour, and worked for Tesco, Morrisons, Asda or Sainsbury's in the last six years, you may be able to check whether you are eligible.