Tesco to increase pay above National Living Wage

Supermarket giant Tesco is to give a pay increase of up to 3.1 percent to its employees in the UK, taking the hourly rate of pay for established employees to 7.62 pounds an hour.

The two-year deal includes a rise in the base rate of pay for all store staff and will mean established staff will receive more than the Government’s new National Living Wage of 7.20 pounds per hour.

The pay increase will come into effect on July 3, 2016, and will apply to employees of all ages.

As part of the package, Tesco has also introduced what it describes as a “simpler and fairer approach” to premium payments. All employees will receive time and a half for Sunday and bank holiday shifts from July this year. Any staff members negatively impacted by the changes will be supported with a lump sum transition payment worth 18 months of the difference in pay.

Matt Davies, Tesco UK and Republic of Ireland chief executive, said: “We’ve spent a lot of time working with Usdaw and colleague representatives to understand what’s important to colleagues. Together, we’ve agreed one of the highest pay and benefits packages in retail for store colleagues, and introduced a simpler and fairer pay structure, including one approach to premium payments.

“As well as an increase in pay which puts our hourly rate well above the Government’s National Living Wage, we remain absolutely committed to rewarding our colleagues with a pay and benefits package they really value, including a pension, colleague discount and 5 percent turnaround bonus.”

Image: Tesco