Sainsbury’s will increase pay for Sainsbury’s and Argos store employees in outer London following pressure from shareholders to pay real living wage to all staff and third-party contractors.
From 1 May , the Big 4 grocers’ colleagues in outer London will see an increase in their base rate of pay from £10.50 per hour to £11.05.
As a result, Sainsbury’s colleagues in outer London join employees in inner London and the rest of the UK in being paid the relevant real living wage for their location.
The move follows a £100 million investment in employee wages in January when the supermarket started to offer a basic hourly pay rate of £10 per hour.
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“Our strategy is about investing in what matters most for both customers and colleagues. We know times are tough for everyone,” Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said.
“That’s why we were one of the first in the industry to pay over the real living wage at £10 per hour and brought forward the announcement of our annual pay review to early January, as we wanted to help colleagues plan and manage the cost of living in the year ahead.
“We are always looking at what more we can do and have therefore decided to increase pay rates for outer London to £11.05 so that Sainsbury’s and Argos retail colleagues are paid the real living wage and London living wage from May.
“We are committed to paying above the national minimum wage and, when setting pay each year, will consider the real living wage, London living wage, the national living wage, competitor pay and the financial performance of the business.”
The news follows Tesco’s announcement to increase hourly pay for its in-store and depot staff members increase 5.8% from £9.55 to £10.10 from July 2022.
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