Next has won an appeal overturning part of a 2024 tribunal ruling that required it to pay shop staff the same basic hourly rate as warehouse workers under equal pay law. The employment appeal tribunal accepted Next's argument that it can pay a higher market rate to warehouse staff, who are predominantly male, without being obliged to raise pay for shop staff, who are predominantly female, since recruitment pressures differ between the two roles. The case matters because it affects a landmark equal pay case involving more than 6,400 claimants and could influence how other retailers justify pay gaps between comparable roles.

The ruling is described as "mixed", however, as the tribunal rejected Next's challenge to earlier findings that it had failed to justify lower night-time pay, overtime pay and a lack of paid rest breaks for store staff, while the question of lower Sunday premium payments has been sent back to the original employment tribunal for determination. The dispute covers 2012 to 2023, a period in which women made up almost 78% of retail sales jobs and men about 53% of warehouse roles, with warehouse staff earning between 38p and £3.13 an hour more, according to law firm Leigh Day, which represents the claimants and has said it intends to appeal the basic pay element of the decision.