Lidl to pay staff living wage
Lidl supermarket will increase the wages of its lowest-paid staff by 2.4%, bringing them up to the level of the new living wage from 1 March 2017. Lidl claims that 25% of its UK employees, or 5,500 individuals, will benefit from the increase to £8.45 per hour, or £9.75 per hour in London. The rise will make Lidl employees some of the best paid in the retail sector, although they will still not receive paid breaks or additional Sunday pay.

Lidl is handing out a 2.4% pay rise to its lowest-paid staff to put them on the new independently verified living wage.

The discounter said 5,500 employees – a quarter of its UK workforce – would benefit from the pay rise which puts them on a minimum of £8.45 an hour, or £9.75 an hour in London. The workers in England, Scotland and Wales will get the pay rise from 1 March next year, making them some of the best paid retail staff, although they do not receive paid breaks or extra pay for Sundays.

Lidl first lifted its minimum pay last autumn to the level recommended by the Living Wage Foundation, which campaigns for companies to pay staff enough to meet the cost of living. Last month, the LWF lifted its recommendation for the voluntary rate from £8.25 to £8.45 outside London and from £9.40 to £9.75 in the capital. Now Lidl has followed suit putting its staff on pay rates well above the legal minimum for over-25s of £7.20 an hour which is set to rise to £7.50 in March.

Lidl said that offering the living wage rate had led to a 20% increase in job applications over the last 12 months. The company is now aiming to recruit over 630 people for permanent positions before Christmas.

Nan Gibson, Lidl UK HR board director said: “We recognise the contribution of each and every colleague within the business and we feel it’s important to celebrate our achievements together. So it fills me with pride that our colleagues are among the best paid in the supermarket sector.”

Katherine Chapman, director of the LWF said: “Lidl’s commitment to pay their staff the new real living wage rates is fantastic news and an acknowledgment of what we have always believed and advocated – that it is possible to pay the real living wage if you are a supermarket in the UK.

But she said that Lidl should go further and become accredited to the LWF and so guarantee that all sub-contracted staff, such as cleaners, are paid the real living wage.

“This will also reassure workers that their wages will rise in line with the cost of living every year,” Chapman said.

Retailers including Ikea, Oliver Bonas, Burberry and Majestic Wines are accredited to the Living Wage Foundation but no supermarket has signed up as yet.