Sainsbury’s has recently announced that thousands of staff members will be receiving a pay rise later this year.
Following a busy Christmas period that saw sales boosted, the supermarket will increase employee pay by five per cent. It comes after the retailer saw customers “shopping late and [buying] record volumes in the days ahead of Christmas.”
This led to a 3.8 per cent rise in grocery sales over the course of six weeks to January 4. Additionally, sales at its Argos chain climbed by 1.1 per cent during the same timeframe.
The pay hike, which will affect 118,000 employees, is set to be dished out in two stages. Wages will initially be raised to £12.45 an hour from March, with a further increase to £12.60 set to take effect from August in order to “navigate a challenging cost environment”, reports Birmingham Live.
By August, the pay rate for hourly-paid staff will have seen a 58 per cent increase since 2018. This year’s split increase allows Sainsbury’s to handle the tough inflationary pressures while continuing to be a leader in the sector for employee remuneration.
Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s, commented: “Our people are fundamental to achieving our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan and we are pleased to announce that we will raise pay for our hourly-paid colleagues by five per cent in the year ahead, split into two separate increases to help manage a particularly tough cost inflation environment.
“We believe in rewarding our colleagues well for delivering leading service and productivity and we will be the best paying UK grocer from March.”
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary, stated: “Usdaw has a longstanding and valued relationship with Sainsbury’s and we welcome the staff pay increase in line with new real living wage rates. Our members are key workers in the business and it is only right they are fairly rewarded with a living wage.”
Bally Auluk, Usdaw National Officer, added: “The working relationship between Usdaw and Sainsbury’s continues to strengthen, and we are pleased that the company has again worked closely with our Union’s representatives, during the recent pay consideration meeting.
“The business has decided to make a pay award totalling 5 per cent, despite lower inflation rates than last year and following on from previous significant pay increases. The cost of living continues to be a key concern for our members, so the business’ decision to respond in such a positive manner, by matching the Real Living Wage once more, is a welcome one for our members.”
Get the latest money news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our Record Money newsletter.