Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne
“Recently I shared an article about the UK’s unhinged equal pay laws. Since then, there has been another more consequential employment tribunal in which Asda (a supermarket chain) has been judged to be paying some in-store women workers less than other warehouse male workers, despite their work being judged as of ‘equal value.’ The potential bill runs into billions of pounds if Asda is found guilty in court, and many billions for the industry as a whole if other cases follow. … the ‘experts,’ by assessing various aspects of the roles, judged that checkout operators and shop floor assistants were of ‘equal value’ to those doing warehouse jobs. Because the former were disproportionately women, in relative terms, Asda would therefore fall afoul of the law — market pay realities be damned!” (02/12/25)