Editing Asda (section)

==Employee relations==
The company has featured prominently in lists of "Best companies to work for", appearing in second place in ''The Times'' newspaper list for 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bestcompanies.co.uk/Lists/ListedCompanies.aspx?Survey=17&Size=32&Company=32059 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130904020453/http://www.bestcompanies.co.uk/Lists/ListedCompanies.aspx?Survey=17&Size=32&Company=32059 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 September 2013 |title=Sunday Times List 2005 |publisher=Bestcompanies.co.uk |access-date=3 September 2013 }}</ref> It offers staff a [[discounts and allowances|discount]] of 15% on most items (exceptions include fuel, stamps, lottery, giftcards and tobacco related items).<ref>
{{cite web |last=Houlton |first=Cara |date=30 January 2025 |title=Asda increases colleague discount to 15% |url=https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2025/01/30/asda-colleague-discount-2/ |access-date=11 March 2025 }}
</ref>

The company was fined £850,000 in 2006 for offering 340 staff at a [[Dartford]] depot a pay rise in return for giving up a union [[collective bargaining agreement]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Asda Guilty of Anti Trade Union Activity|url=http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/Retail/Asda-Wal-Mart-guilty-of-anti-trade-union-activity|date=14 February 2006|website=Food And Drink Europe|access-date=3 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929025840/http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/Retail/Asda-Wal-Mart-guilty-of-anti-trade-union-activity|archive-date=29 September 2011}}</ref>
Poor relations continued as Asda management attempted to introduce new rights and working practices shortly thereafter at another centre in [[Washington, Tyne and Wear]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Asda's Escalating dispute with GMB|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/asdas-escalating-dispute-with-gmb-turns-into-political-row-467136.html|date=20 February 2006|work=The Independent|access-date=18 February 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090317211957/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/asdas-escalating-dispute-with-gmb-turns-into-political-row-467136.html| archive-date= 17 March 2009 | url-status= live| first=Barrie| last=Clement| location=London}}</ref>

Some compromise was reached by June of that year, when a five-day strike was called off after Asda management and the [[GMB (trade union)|GMB union]] reached an agreement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Asda Industrial Action Called Off |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5128260.stm |date=29 June 2006 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=3 December 2011 |archive-date=2 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060702085217/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5128260.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Relations have improved since, with both Asda and the GMB marking the death of a worker together on [[Workers' Memorial Day]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=GMB Members and Asda Bedford Mark International Workers' Memorial Day 2010 |url=http://www.gmb.org.uk/default.aspx?page=1027 |date=26 April 2010 |website=GMB |access-date=3 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710044416/http://www.gmb.org.uk/default.aspx?page=1027 |archive-date=10 July 2010 }}</ref>

In 2013, tens of thousands of Asda workers across the UK were hit with a tax complication because of an anomaly in Asda's payroll system. Asda employees receive their pay every four weeks, which meant, according to their spokesperson, that once every 20 years they are paid 14 times a year rather than 13. Whilst most companies handle this properly, Asda's payroll system did not, which meant that workers had, through no fault of their own, paid less tax for the year than they should have. This resulted in most full-time and a small number of part-time workers receiving a demand from [[HM Revenue & Customs]] for between £72 and £160.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tax shock for thousands of Asda workers|url=http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/uk/exclusive-tax-shock-for-thousands-of-asda-workers-1.113215|work=The Courier|access-date=1 October 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925132343/http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/uk/exclusive-tax-shock-for-thousands-of-asda-workers-1.113215|archive-date=25 September 2013}}</ref>

In 2016, Asda became involved in a protracted equal pay dispute with its lower-paid shop staff, who were supported by GMB. 44,000 employees argued that store workers were paid less because most were women, while most distribution depot staff, paid more, were men, violating the [[Equal Pay Act 1970]] and [[Equality Act 2010]]. In March 2021 the employees won a [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|Supreme Court]] case upholding an earlier court ruling. This did not itself give the claimants the right to equal pay, but enabled them to take the case to an [[employment tribunal]] to decide "equal value" claims. Asda stated "This ruling relates to one stage of a complex case that is likely to take several years to reach a conclusion."<ref name=bbc-20210326>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56534988 |title=Asda loses Supreme Court appeal in equal pay fight |work=BBC News |date=26 March 2021 |access-date=26 March 2021 |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326100535/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56534988 |url-status=live }}</ref> The claim could lead to about £500&nbsp;million of compensation to lower-paid employees.<ref name=guardian-20210326>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/26/court-rules-against-asda-in-workers-equal-pay-case |title=Court rules against Asda in workers. equal pay case |last=Butler |first=Sarah |newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 March 2021 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref>

{{See also|Asda Stores Ltd v Brierley}}