Asda is to increase the pay of more than 120,000 store employees by 8.4% from 1 July, it was announced on Friday.
Britain’s third-largest supermarket group announced the change following a similar move by rivals as the national minimum wage goes up.
Living Wage And Minimum Wage
The retailer said its hourly rate for store workers would increase from £11.11 to £12.04 per hour across the UK.
Workers in London will see their wage increase from £12.28 to £13.21 per hour in July. This will follow an interim increase in April when the national minimum wage goes up.
London workers will see a bigger increase due to the city’s higher cost of living.
Britain’s minimum wage is due to increase from £10.42 per hour to £11.44 from 1 April.
The supermarket group has said the rate increase will cost £150 million.
The Bank of England is closely monitoring pay settlements as it examines possible inflationary pressure in the British economy.
It will monitor whether the economy has eased enough to cut interest rates.
Interest rates are currently at their highest level since 2008.
Paid Voluntarily
Hayley Tatum, the chief people and corporate affairs officer at Asda said of the increase, “Asda’s proposed new rates of pay not only exceed the current Real Living Wage but would make us the highest paying grocery retailer in the UK.”
The Real Living Wage is calculated by finding the average pay workers and their families require to fund everyday needs.
It is not a legal requirement like minimum wage, but is paid voluntarily by some UK businesses.
Last week, Marks & Spencer announced a pay increase of up to 10.1% for staff, bringing the lowest wage paid in the retailer to £12 per hour.
Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl, and Costa Coffee have also announced pay rises for 2024.
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