Within the first few weeks of 2024, some of the UK’s largest supermarkets were quick to kick off the new year with an increase to colleague pay.
In the past few weeks alone, the likes of Tesco, Waitrose, Aldi and most recently, Asda, have also confirmed plans to update their pay rates.
With some grocers making their biggest ever investment into shopfloor pay, we round up how much each retailer offers store assistants and which is the highest paying employer.
In December, Aldi raised pay for all store and warehouse colleagues to a minimum of £12 an hour nationally.
This month, Aldi increased pay for store colleagues for the second time this year, reinforcing its position as the UK’s best-paying supermarket.
The discounter’s new national minimum rate is now £12.40 an hour for store assistants and deputy store managers – up from £12.
The new pay increase will also take the hourly rate of store assistants and deputy store managers 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.
Last year, Asda invested a record £141m in giving staff a 10% pay increase to hourly-paid store colleagues.
In July, pay rates rose to £11.11 per hour nationally and £12.28 within the M25.
Earlier this month, the supermarket giant proposed new hourly pay rates which have since been accepted by colleagues.
The record £150m investment will see rates increase from £11.11 to £11.44 from 1 April to meet National Minimum Wage requirements, followed by a further rise to £12.04 on 1 July.
Rates for colleagues at stores inside the M25 will rise to £13.21 per hour.
Earlier this month, Tesco unveiled plans to increase 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.
The new rate, which is above the Real Living Wage, has been agreed with Usdaw and will come into effect from April.
As part of the deal, Tesco will be creating one ‘London Allowance’ area at £13.15 per hour for stores within the M25 – an increase from £11.95 inner London and £11.75 outer London, and keeps the retailer in line with the London Real Living Wage.
However, Tesco employees have criticised the supermarket after a month-long delay to the agreed pay rise, which will leave them on less than minimum wage.
While the retailer had initially pledged to boost pay starting next month, it has since revealed that this rise will not be introduced until 28 April, The Guardian reported.
In January, Lidl invested £37m in pay to increase the wages of its 26,000 hourly-paid workers and salaried colleagues.
As of 1 March, entry-level roles at the discount grocer are now 17% higher than the new National Minimum Wage being introduced in April.
Colleagues outside the M25 have seen hourly pay raised from £11.40 to £12, increasing to £13 with length of service.
Staff within the M25 saw pay rates rise from £12.85 to £13.55, increasing to £13.85 over time.
Other new pay benefits include a bank holiday premium of £2 per hour and an enhanced nightshift premium of £3.50.
In January, Sainsbury’s invested £200m to increase hourly rates by 9.1%.
From this month, wages for store colleagues will rise to £12 per hour nationally and £13.15 within the M25.
The change, which was described by Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts as “industry leading”, will impact 120,000 hourly paid employees and marks 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.
Employees will receive an additional £1,910 a year nationally and £2,290 a year in London, making it the largest supermarket to pay colleagues the new Real Living Wage nationally and the London Living Wage.
Last month, M&S unveiled plans to invest a record £89m in UK retail pay – marking a 26.3% increase since March 2022.
From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK customer assistants will increase 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 will see 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 will be boosted from £12.20 to £13.05, and from £13.35 to £14.20 for those in London.
Today (6 March), Co-op announced that it would be rewarding frontline staff 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.
From 1 April, the rate of pay for Co-op customer team members will rise 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 will rise from £12.25 to £13.15, while Co-op team leaders will receive the same increase from £12.10 to £13.32 per hour.
As of 1 April 2023, Waitrose raised the hourly base wage nationally to a minimum of £10.50 per hour and to a minimum if £11.72 per hour within the M25.
However, Waitrose owner the John Lewis Partnership is expected to confirm new pay rates when it filed its full-year results next week, according to Retail Week.
This will see a record £116m invested to boost staff pay by an average of 10%.
As of April, the minimum pay is expected to rise to £11.55 per hour nationally and to £12.89 in London.
Morrisons increased its hourly pay rates last October, when they raised the established rate for a customer assistant by 50p to £10.92.