Tesco was not entitled to terminate some employees’ contracts and offer to rehire them on less favourable terms, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw took legal action against Britain’s biggest retailer after Tesco sought to remove some warehouse workers’ entitlement to increased pay.

Tesco ended their contracts and offered to re-engage them – a controversial practice often referred to as “fire and rehire”.