"The Court of Appeal dismissed Britain's biggest grocer's appeal against the Tribunal's approach to determining the job facts of customer assistants and warehouse operatives, a critical step in the so-called "equal value" process that underpins the entire dispute."
"At the heart of the appeal was Tesco's attempt to stop the Tribunal from relying on the company's own training manuals and operational documents to establish what customer assistants and warehouse operatives are required to do day-to-day. For Britain's SME employers and retail bosses watching closely, the Court of Appeal's response will make uncomfortable reading."
"The judges upheld the Tribunal's approach, accepting that Tesco operates in a highly regulated environment, deploys sophisticated digital stock systems and maintains exhaustive training materials precisely to ensure work is carried out consistently across every one of its stores. The Court found Tesco had a "strong business need" for these roles to be performed in the same way throughout its operations."
"The Court found Tesco had a "strong business need" for these roles to be performed in the same way throughout its operations, and that, absent clear evidence to the contrary, its own training documents could properly be treated as determinative of what staff were required to do."
The Court of Appeal dismissed Tesco’s appeal against an Employment Tribunal’s method for determining job facts for customer assistants and warehouse operatives. The decision was issued on 12 May 2026 and upheld the Tribunal’s approach as a critical step in the equal value process. Tesco’s challenge sought to prevent the Tribunal from using Tesco’s own training manuals and operational documents to establish day-to-day job requirements. The Court accepted that Tesco operates in a highly regulated environment, uses sophisticated digital stock systems, and maintains extensive training materials to ensure consistent work across stores. The Court found a strong business need for consistent performance and held that, without clear contrary evidence, the training documents could be treated as determinative of required duties.
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