Grocery retailer Aldi has announced a pay rise for store assistants to £11.40 per hour nationally, and £12.85 per hour within the M25.
The change in pay will take effect from 1 July 2023, and will benefit more than 28,000 employees, out of a total of 40,000 in the UK.
Aldi has made an investment of over £100 million into employee pay over the past 12 months, and the £11.40 pay rate brings store assistant pay up 13% compared with the previous year.
The rates were introduced at a higher level than the real living wage, which is set by the Living Wage Foundation and stands at £10.90 nationally and £11.95 within the M25.
This followed a series of recent pay increases made by the organisation, including a raise for warehouse staff in January, distribution centre staff in August 2022, and a previous raise for store assistants announced in October last year.
Aldi also pays store employees for their breaks, which amounts to an additional £927 annually.
Giles Hurley, chief executive officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “We believe our colleagues are the best in the sector and we are committed to ensuring they are also the best paid.
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“We are incredibly proud of every single member of Team Aldi and are pleased to become the first UK supermarket to pay a minimum of £11.40 per hour to all store assistants.”
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