"Significant step": Thousands of Asda shop workers move closer to payouts in £1.2bn equality case

The claim, which compared store roles largely occupied by women and distribution roles mostly performed by men, is being considered a landmark case for pay equality.

Unions have suggested the fresh tribunal ruling could pave the way for staff to receive back pay collectively worth up to £1.2 billion.

The employment tribunal found in favour of 12 out of 14 women acting as lead claimants for store workers in the legal action, who were asking for their roles to be valued equally with those in the warehouses.

The judgment covers the period between August 2008 and June 2014.

It means tens of thousands of Asda shop floor workers have now won two out of the three stages of their equal pay claim.

However, it is understood that the ruling against two roles – personal shoppers and shop floor assistants for edible grocery – has struck off around 20 per cent of all claims.

Law firm Leigh Day, which represents more than 60,000 workers in the Asda equal pay claim, is considering an appeal over these two positions.

Asda employs more than 127,000 shop floor workers across its 1,200 roughly stores in the UK.

Lauren Lougheed, partner at Leigh Day, said: “This is a significant step for the thousands of Asda store workers who have established equal value.

“Our clients have fought for over 10 years to achieve recognition of the value of their work and I am so pleased for them.

“We hope that Asda will now focus on resolving their cases quickly, rather than prolonging the process.

“Today’s ruling will of course be bitterly disappointing for our clients who work in the job roles that were not found to be of equal value.”

Asda will seek to establish a “material factor”, such as market conditions, that has resulted in higher wages for the warehouse positions, in the next phase of the process.

An Asda spokesman said: “We strongly reject any claim that Asda’s pay rates are discriminatory.

“Asda will continue to defend these claims at the next stage of the litigation because retail and distribution are two different industry sectors that have their own market rates and distinct pay structures.”

The case comes as Asda attempts to deliver a turnaround plan under returning boss Allan Leighton.

The supermarket has recently brought back its Rollback pricing scheme as part of efforts to reverse flagging customer numbers.

The supermarket, which saw sales fall in the run up to Christmas, has slashed the prices of more than 4,000 products in store and online by an average of 25 per cent.

Figures from Kantar indicate that Asda saw sales drop by 5.8 per cent over the 12 weeks to December 29.

Asda said it will continue to add thousands of new products to Rollback at regular intervals during the year as it looks to move its entire range to a new low “Asda Price”.

The supermarket has also enlisted fitness influencer Joe Wicks to front its campaign in a 30-second film set around a boardroom meeting that concludes with the “that’s Asda price” strapline and pocket tap.

Mr Leighton said last month: “Asda was built upon helping hard working families save money and we’re refocusing on that mission by bringing back Rollback and Asda Price.

“We’re lowering prices throughout our stores and online to make Asda the cheapest traditional supermarket.”