Aldi to offer higher pay than competitors in UK
Aldi is to become the highest-paying UK supermarket after awarding over 3,000 staff a pay increase to £8.53 ($10.59) per hour, or £9.75 per hour in London. The hourly rate in the capital is the same as the rate offered by Lidl, but the rate outside London is 7p an hour more than that of Aldi's fellow German competitor. Both companies now pay equivalent to, or higher than, the minimum level recommended by the Living Wage Foundation. Aldi's pay increase will be effective from 1 February. 

 

 

Aldi is to give more than 3,000 staff a pay rise in an effort to leapfrog fellow German discounter Lidl to become the highest-paying supermarket in the UK.

Employees at the fast-growing supermarket chain will earn £8.53 per hour and £9.75 if they live in London, starting from 1 February.

While Aldi’s hourly rate in the capital will be the same as the new minimum announced in November by Lidl, staff outside London will earn 7p an hour more.

Both supermarket chains have now matched or bettered the the voluntary minimum pay suggested by the Living Wage Foundation.

Aldi said the increase means it is now the highest paying company in the supermarket sector, adding that 3,356 staff stood to benefit.

It pointed out that it also paid staff for breaks, which it claimed Lidl did not.

Aldi’s UK chief executive, Matthew Barnes, said: “We recognise the valuable contribution that our thousands of store employees make every day. Their dedication and commitment is a key reason why Aldi is the UK’s fastest-growing supermarket.

“We employ the best people in retail and invest in their training to enable them to carry out a range of different roles in store.

“We remain committed to being the best supermarket employer in Britain. This means that we will continue to provide employees with rates of pay and benefits that are the highest in the supermarket sector.”

Aldi is in the midst of a recruitment drive, hiring about 4,000 new staff in its bid to take the number of UK stores from 700 to 1,000 by 2022. Its 700th UK store will open next month.

In November, Lidl said it would hand a 2.4% pay rise to its lowest-paid staff to put them on the 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.