Retail giant Tesco faces being taken to court by members of staff following complaints regarding rates of pay.
The case, which is being raised by 17 long-term employees, centres around changes to the premiums they will receive for working bank holidays, nights and weekend shifts.
Previously, staff members whose employment with Tesco began before 5 July 1999 had been rewarded with double time for working these antisocial hours. However, in July the supermarket reduced these rates to time and a half, bringing the pay of long-serving workers in line with other employees.
“Earlier this year we announced a pay increase of up to 3.1 per cent for colleagues working in our stores across the UK, in addition to a 5 per cent turnaround bonus,” said a spokesperson for Tesco.
“As part of the pay negotiations we also agreed to simplify premium payments to ensure a fair and consistent approach for all colleagues. The minority of colleagues who were negatively impacted by this change were supported with an agreed lump sum transition payment.”
This transition payment is said to be equal to the loss of wages employees would face over the following 18 months.
Despite these actions, a number of long-term employees, all of whom have worked for the company for more than 15 years, have sought the help of law firm Leigh Day to settle the dispute. Paula Lee, of Leigh Day, said: “Our clients are extremely unhappy that they have had their wages reduced in this way.
“These long-serving employees are especially angry that they only found out about the decision when news was leaked to the national press in January 2016.
“They feel hurt, bewildered and frightened that this could happen again.”
Leigh Day also claim that a night premium previously touted by Tesco had been scrapped, and that employees of the company stand to lose thousands of pounds a year as a direct result of the enforced changes.
