Sainsbury’s becomes first major supermarket to pay Real Living Wage and London Living Wage
Sainsbury’s has announced that it is to increase pay rates for staff working in Sainsbury’s and Argos stores in outer London.
This means it has become the first major supermarket to pay the Real Living Wage and London Living Wage to all store workers.
The supermarket said it was making the award in recognition of staff’s “extraordinary efforts” and to help them deal with the cost of living crisis.
The vast majority of Sainsbury’s store colleagues have received at least the Real or London Living Wage since March. However from 1 May, retail staff in outer London will see their base rate of pay rise from £10.50 per hour to £11.05. This means they will join staff members both in inner London and the rest of the UK in being paid the relevant Real Living Wage for their location.
The investment comes on top of the £100 million investment announced in January when Sainsbury’s became one of the first UK retailers to pay colleagues a basic hourly rate of £10 per hour.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “Our strategy is about investing in what matters most for both customers and colleagues. We know times are tough for everyone. 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 proud to pay the Real Living Wage and the London Living Wage in inner London and we have been spending a lot of time considering how we can help our customers and our colleagues as the cost of living crisis intensifies.
“We will continue to listen to the views of all our stakeholders as we balance delivering for customers, colleagues, communities and shareholders. 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.”
