On 12 May 2026 the Court of Appeal dismissed Tesco's challenge to how an Employment Tribunal sets "job facts" for shop and warehouse roles in the equal-value stage. That stage compares job demands to decide whether different roles should receive equal pay, and ICLG reports the dismissal in ICLG's 13 May report. The dispute covers customer assistants in stores and workers in distribution centres. The ruling controls what evidence the Tribunal can use, not whether Tesco owes back pay.
Table of Contents
- What the judges decided
- Why Tesco's own documents mattered
- Who is covered and what was not decided
- What happens next
What the judges decided
Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing, with Lord Justice Nugee and Sir Nicholas Underhill, rejected almost all of Tesco's appeal grounds. They refused the wholesale rehearing Tesco sought.
The court left the Tribunal's existing findings largely intact. Only one ground succeeded, without changing the overall result for claimants.
Why Tesco's own documents mattered
The ruling upheld use of Tesco's training materials and operational documents as proof of what staff were required to do. Judges treated those central records as evidence of daily practice, not just policy.
That approach fit Tesco's tightly controlled, company-wide systems, according to Lawyer Monthly's account. Where headquarters sets tasks, tools, and routines, central documents can reliably show consistent demands across stores and depots.
Who is covered and what was not decided
The case involves close to 60,000 claimants, with about 34,000 in this appeal group. They are mainly female store workers comparing their pay with higher-paid, mainly male distribution-centre comparators under the Equality Act 2010. The decision does not decide liability:.
- It settled how job facts can be proved from central documents.
- It did not decide whether store roles are of equal value to warehouse roles.
- It did not decide whether Tesco's "material factor" defence, including market-rates arguments, justifies any gap.
What happens next
Lady Justice Laing cautioned that a final outcome is "still a long way off," as Personnel Today's May report notes. A separate Tribunal hearing on Tesco's justification defence was continuing alongside independent-expert work on equal value.
For large employers with central procedures, claimants may more easily rely on company-wide manuals. People following the case should keep employment records and watch for updates from their representative rather than expect a payout now.
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