Next accused of destroying ‘vital documents’ in equal pay claim

Leigh Day, the law firm representing more than 330 Next shop staff in a dispute over pay with warehouse colleagues, has accused the retailer of destroying paperwork related to the case in a direct breach of an order by the employment tribunal to keep the documents safe. 

A hearing is set for January 12 where the tribunal will hear what happened to the documents and decide whether Next should face any penalty. Leigh Day said the retailer may face a ‘strike-out order’, which would bar it from defending itself against equal pay claims, according to The Guardian.   

The row over the documents stems from a claim being made by a group of predominantly female Next shop staff who claim their work is no less demanding than that done by predominantly male warehouse staff, who earn on average between £2 and £6 more an hour.

The fashion giant’s staff were the latest retail workers to join similar actions across the sector along with thousands of workers from Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and the Co-op. 

Next employs some 25,000 store staff across the UK and Ireland and, if all eligible staff joined the claim, it could cost the retailer £200m. 

The retailer denied destroying the documents.

“Next is therefore confident that any application for a ‘strike-out order’ will not succeed, as it is meeting all of its obligations under the tribunal process,” a spokesman for the company said. “Next will continue to defend itself vigorously in this claim.”