Morrisons has begun the final hearing of the second “crucial” stage in its equal pay claim, with four store roles up for consideration by the Employment Tribunal.

It marks the next step in the supermarket giant’s equal pay case as it becomes the latest retailer to face legal proceedings, forced to answer to claims that it pays its predominantly female retail workforce less than its warehouse workers, who are mainly male.

Represented by law firm Leigh Day, Morrisons equal pay claim was first launched against the grocer in November 2018 by GMB union, representing over 7,520 workers.

In today’s (28 November) final hearing of its second stage, judges will consider four store roles – customer assistant (café), customer assistant (petrol), customer assistant (deli) and checkout team leader – as well as one warehouse role at two depots, Logistics Key Operative (warehouse and FLT).

The hearing is designed for the tribunal to decide what the factual content of these roles are, as the two parties, Morrisons and its worker union, have been unable to agree.

It is understood once this is completed, all the store and warehouse jobs considered so far (12 in total) will be scored to see if they are of equal value, before the grocery retailer starts its third and final stage.

Leigh Day partner and joint head of employment and discrimination Emma Satyamurti said: “The outcome of this stage of the case is crucial. It will form the basis of the tribunal’s assessment as to whether the claimants’ work is as demanding as the work of the men in the warehouses”.

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The latest step follows stage one, where it was considered if the roles of store colleagues could be compared to depot colleagues for the purposes of equal value. This concluded in September 2021 after the employment tribunal ruled in the shop worker’s favour.

It also comes amid ongoing court cases at fellow supermarkets, including Asda, which kicked off its third stage and final hearing in September, to look at whether there are justifiable reasons, not related to gender, for the pay differences, with factors including geographical location, different working hours, length of service or different skills, qualifications and experiences.

Asda became the first of the supermarkets to be taken to court over equal pay, with similar claims also been brought against Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Co-op, on behalf of over 112,000 staff.

While it is not yet known how much Morrisons might pay if it were to lose the case, it is understood it could be a significant figure, following Leigh Day launching a £4bn equal pay claim against Tesco, and the GMB union claiming the backdated pay Asda workers are “owed” could be more than £2bn.

In August, Next was forced to pay over £30m after it lost its equal pay case, following the Employment Tribunal ruling that the retailer had failed to justify why it was paying its female-dominated sales consultants lower hourly pay than its warehouse staff, which are mostly men.

Morrisons declined to comment.