Who? Neil Todd, partner and trade union law specialist, Thompsons Solicitors, Manchester. 

Neil Todd

Why is he in the news? Represented the Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) in a claim brought on behalf of 42 workers employed at Tesco’s Daventry and Lichfield distribution centres. The workers faced having their wages cut as part of a change to the terms and conditions of their employment.

Thoughts on the case: ‘About 15 years ago, Usdaw agreed with Tesco that some of its members would receive a benefit called “Retained Pay” which uplifted their salary. Tesco wanted to persuade the employees concerned to remain with the business at a time when it was restructuring.

‘Despite the workers being told unequivocally and repeatedly that the payment was “permanent” and “guaranteed for life”, Tesco proposed to remove it when the business felt it had become too expensive.

‘I was instructed by Usdaw to bring an application for an injunction to stop Tesco proceeding with the fire and rehire exercise to implement the change, and we were successful. The High Court agreed the benefit was intended to be permanent in nature.’

Tesco said: ‘We now have over 16,000 colleagues working in distribution, the vast majority of whom do not receive this top-up, and so we took the decision last year to phase it out. We made a fair offer to colleagues, and many of them chose to accept this. We are disappointed with [this month’s] outcome and are [considering an appeal].’

Dealing with the media: ‘In my experience people tend to be shocked when they understand just how easily employers can strip away and erode employment terms. Sadly, there is nothing new about employers embarking on these kinds of exercises but it is finally getting overdue attention.

‘There is frustratingly very little political will to effectively tackle the practice, so media reporting is crucial.’

Why become a lawyer? ‘I graduated with a history degree and was not sure what to do next. Like many students I had an idealistic streak and wanted to do something that I thought could bring about positive change.’

Career high: ‘The first time I successfully defended a trade union client in an injunction application to defend a strike.’

Career low: ‘The introduction of employment tribunal fees – an assault on access to justice which was thankfully brought to an end by a Supreme Court decision rendering it unlawful.’

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