Staff at Asda are set for an increase in pay, with the store announcing it’s raising the hourly rate from £12.04 to £12.60 nationally from October.
It will rise incrementally until then, hitting £12.21 from April and £12.45 in July.
Staff inside the M25 will be earning a little more – £13.82 from October, up from the current rate of £13.21.
The supermarket’s maternity and adoption leave policy will also change from July, extending from 12 weeks to 26.
Paternity leave will double from two weeks to four, while anyone who experiences pregnancy loss before 24 weeks will be due two weeks’ paid leave.
On top of those changes, staff will also get a 15% discount when shopping at Asda.
Hayley Tatum, chief people officer at Asda, said: “We’re proud to have invested more than £500m in retail pay over the last four years.
“Our colleagues are what makes Asda special, and this latest pay investment, plus an increased colleague discount and enhanced family friendly policies, recognises the key role they play in serving customers each day.”
How it looks elsewhere
Their announcement comes hot on the heels of Tesco’s pay rise, which announced in mid-March it had reached an agreement with trade union USDAW.
It means that, as of yesterday, staff there have seen an increase from £12.02 to £12.45, going up to £12.64 from the end of August.
Like at Asda, pay will be a little higher within the M25, where the new rate will rise to £14.36 per hour.
Lidl also announced it will up its hourly pay to £12.75 from April, while Sainsbury’s said it will raise pay to £12.60 an hour by August.
