CO-OP shop workers have won a significant battle in their struggle for equal pay, after a tribunal recognised the physical and emotional demands of their jobs.

In a ruling on June 3, Manchester employment tribunal found that customer team members often face verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour, sometimes daily, with the risks having increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

It also acknowledged the risks of physical strain and injury stemming from tasks such as restocking shelves.

Law firm Leigh Day brought the case of behalf of over 5,500 mostly female retail staff who argue that their roles are of equal value to those in the Co-op’s distribution centres, where the workforce is predominantly male.

The ruling forms part of stage two in the legal process, focusing on job descriptions. 

The tribunal rejected the Co-op’s claims that abuse in stores was rare and dismissed attempts to exclude such incidents from job descriptions. 

It also found that management had tried to inflate warehouse roles by referencing tasks not carried out in practice.

By contrast, the tribunal noted that retail workers often showed independent judgement, such as managing tasks or remembering till procedures without prompts. 

The Co-op’s own training encourages staff to “actively delight” customers, yet this is something that the company argued should not count towards job value.

The agreed job descriptions will now go to independent experts for evaluation. 

If the roles are found to be of equal value under the Equality Act 2010, the claimants could be owed up to six years’ back pay as well as higher hourly rates.

Michael Newman of Leigh Day said yesterday: “For too long, retail workers, most of them women, have faced unjustifiable pay disparities despite performing roles that demand emotional intelligence, physical effort, problem-solving and resilience.

“We believe this ruling brings Co-op shop workers an important step closer to the recognition and pay they rightly deserve.”