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Thousands of current and former Tesco workers have won a legal argument in their fight for equal pay.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that an EU law could be relied on in making equal pay claims against their employer.

Tesco workers, mostly women, have argued that they failed to receive equal pay for work of equal value with colleagues in its distribution centres who are mostly men.

They said this breached EU and UK laws.

Tesco, the UK's biggest retailer, and law firm Leigh Day, acting on behalf of the workers, sought clarification from the Court of Justice of the European Union.

They asked the court to rule on a specific aspect of European law - whether the so-called "single source" test applies to businesses in the UK.

Under EU law, a worker can be compared with somebody working in a different establishment if a "single source" has the power to correct the difference in pay.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Asda shop workers can compare their roles with those of their colleagues in distribution centres for the purposes of equal pay. This ruling mainly focused on the UK legal test for comparability.

'Time to accept'

According to Leigh Day, the latest decision reinforces the Supreme Court's ruling and makes it extremely difficult for other supermarkets to argue the roles of shop workers cannot be compared with those of their colleagues in distribution centres.

Kiran Dauka, a partner in the employment team at Leigh Day, said: "This judgement reinforces the Supreme Court's ruling that the roles of shop floor workers can be compared to those of their colleagues in distribution centres for the purposes of equal pay.

"For a long time, employers have argued that UK law in this area is unclear, but this judgment is simple: if there is a single body responsible for ensuring equality, the roles are comparable.

"Clarification from the CJEU confirms that this single source test can be relied upon by people in the UK bringing an equal value claim. This means that employers can no longer hide behind the grey areas of UK law.

"It's time for supermarkets to accept that the roles of shop floor workers and distribution centre workers are comparable."

'Uplifting' decision

Pam Jenkins, who works at Tesco, said: "To get a judgement confirming shop floor workers can use an easier legal test to compare their jobs to male colleagues in distribution is uplifting.

"I've always been proud to work at Tesco, but knowing that male colleagues working in distribution centres are being paid more is demoralising.

"I'm hopeful that Tesco will recognise the contribution shop floor workers make to the business and reflect that in our pay."

The legal test for comparability is only the first of three stages within Asda's overall pay claim, which is expected to take several years to conclude.

Leigh Day is also handing similar equal pay claims against Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Co-op, which are not as far advanced.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "The jobs in our stores and distribution centres are different. These roles require different skills and demands which lead to variations in pay - but this has absolutely nothing to do with gender.

"We reward our colleagues fairly for the jobs they do and work hard to ensure that the pay and benefits we offer are fair, competitive and sustainable.

"These claims are extremely complex and will take many years to reach a conclusion. We continue to strongly defend these claims."