As we reach the halfway point of 2024, many of the UK’s largest supermarkets continue to update their pay rates for in-store colleagues.
Over the past few months, the likes of Asda, Lidl, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have all increased their hourly rates, and with some grocers making their biggest ever investment into shop floor pay. We round up how much each retailer offers store assistants and which is the highest paying employer.
Lidl
On 1 June, Lidl increased pay for hourly-paid colleagues from £12 to a minimum of £12.40 across the country, marking the discounter’s third pay rise in 12 months.
In London, colleagues saw entry level pay increase to £13.65, up from £13.55, with the base rates equal to the best hourly pay in the sector.
Hourly pay rates for colleagues will also increase with length of service, reaching £13 nationally and £14 within London.
Aldi
In March, Aldi increased pay for store colleagues for the second time this year with a new national minimum rate of £12.40 an hour for store assistants and deputy store managers, up from the previous £12.00 rate.
The pay increases also took the hourly rate of store assistants and deputy store managers for those within the M25 from £13.55 to £13.65.
Aldi is also the only supermarket to offer paid breaks, which for the average store colleague is worth more than an additional £900 a year.
Asda
As of Monday (1 July) pay for employees in the grocer’s supermarkets and convenience stores increased from £11.44 to £12.04 per hour nationally and from £12.61 to £13.21 for stores inside the M25, in a move that it claims makes Asda the highest-paying traditional supermarket.
It also forms part of a record investment of £150m to increase retail pay by 8.4% this year, taking the total pay investment to £415m since TDR and the Issa brothers acquired the business three years ago.
The supermarket is also investing an additional £13m into wages to give colleagues additional time in-store ahead of what is expected to be a busy summer trading period.
Tesco
In April, Tesco increased the hourly pay rate for colleagues in stores from £11.02 to £12.02 – its biggest ever single investment into pay.
It represents a 9.1% rise in base pay and a record investment of more than £300m in hourly colleague pay.
As part of the deal, Tesco said it would be creating one ‘London Allowance’ area at £13.15 per hour for stores within the M25 – an increase from £11.95 in inner London and £11.75 in outer London, which keeps the retailer in line with the London Real Living Wage.
The annual Colleague Clubcard discount allowance is also increasing by £500 to £2,000 for staff who joined before 24 July 2022, while the value for a Sunday premium increased from £12.89 to £13.22 per hour.
Sainsbury’s
In March, Sainsbury’s invested £200m to increase hourly rates by 9.1%, which saw wages for store colleagues rise to £12 per hour nationally and £13.15 within the M25.
The change, which was described at the time by Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts as “industry leading”, impacted 120,000 hourly paid employees and marked the supermarket giant’s single biggest ever investment into colleague pay.
Since 2018, Sainsbury’s has increased pay by 50% and by 9% in the past year in line with the Real Living Wage, with employees now receiving an additional £1,910 a year nationally and £2,290 a year in London.
M&S
In April, M&S invested a record £89m in UK retail pay, marking a 26.3% increase since March 2022.
The rate of pay for UK customer assistants increased from £10.90 to £12 per hour, representing a 10.1% increase on last year. For a full-time worker, this equates to an increase of around £180 per month compared to today’s current rate.
Customer assistants working in London saw the hourly rate rise from £12.05 to £13.15 – a 9.1% increase on last year.
The hourly rate for UK team support managers was also boosted from £12.20 to £13.05, and from £13.35 to £14.20 for those in London.
Co-op
As of 1 April, frontline staff at Co-op were rewarded with a more than 10% pay increase to at least £12 per hour.
The change, which is in line with the Real Living Wage, represents the convenience retailer’s biggest ever investment into pay.
The rate of pay for Co-op customer team members rose from £10.90 to £12 per hour – a 10.1% increase on last year and a 21% increase since March 2022.
For team members working in London, the hourly rate increased from £12.25 to £13.15, while Co-op team leaders received the same rise from £12.10 to £13.32 per hour.
Waitrose
Waitrose owner the John Lewis Partnership is investing a record £116 million in boosting staff pay this year, increasing wages by an average of 10%.
As of April, the minimum pay rose to £11.55 per hour nationally and to £12.89 in London.
Morrisons
Since 1 April, the established rate for a customer assistant at Morrisons has been £11.44 per hour, irrespective of age.
Meanwhile, supermarket colleagues within the M25 have a location supplement of 85p an hour on top of this.
