Tesco has reached a pay rise agreement with the Usdaw union that will significantly increase the hourly pay for colleagues in stores from £11.02 to £12.02 per hour – above the 2024 ‘real’ Living Wage outside London.
Tesco remains one of the few supermarkets to recognise an independent trade union and negotiate pay rates with them for all its hourly-paid colleagues in the UK.
The new rate comes into effect on 28 April 2024 and represents a 9.1% pay rise and a record investment of more than £300 million in hourly pay.
Supermarket 2024 pay rises
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The 2024 Tesco pay deal also includes a 50% increase in paid paternity leave to a sector-leading six weeks on full pay, and an increase in maximum sick pay entitlement up to 18 weeks.
This announcement follows the significant investment Tesco has made in hourly-paid store colleagues’ pay in recent years, including a total increase of 26% in hourly pay announced since April 2022, equivalent to a more than £750 million investment.
Tesco has also launched a virtual GP service for colleagues, flexible working from day one, and enhanced family leave policies including 26 weeks’ fully-paid maternity, adoption and kinship leave.
It provides colleagues with Clubcard discount of up to 15% on their shopping, with an annual allowance of £2,000 (up from £1,500), which colleagues can also share with a family member in a second household.
The supermarket is creating one London allowance area at £13.15 per hour – the Living Wage rate – for stores within the M25. Pay for these workers rises from £11.95 for inner London and £11.75 in outer London.
Tesco is changing its Sunday pay premium from 17% to 10% for colleagues who joined before July 2022 but it still remains one of few retailers to pay staff extra on Sundays.
Speaking about the Tesco pay rise for 2024, UK chief executive Matthew Barnes said: “This represents another significant investment in our colleagues, building on the last two years of investment. We recognise the amazing work our colleagues do every day in serving our customers and we’re really proud to offer such competitive rates of pay alongside a great range of exclusive colleague benefits.”
Daniel Adams, national officer for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), said: “This deal not only delivers an inflation-busting increase for Tesco employees, but it also demonstrates the value of progressive employers engaging constructively with trade unions at a time when the cost-of-living pressures continue to be keenly felt by our members.
“We welcome the company’s positive response through our negotiations which have resulted in the largest investment in pay in a single year, with the highest entry rate for store employees of any major supermarket.
“Moreover, at a time when some employers are rowing back from commitments they have made around the real Living Wage, this deal ensures all rates of pay for store employees continue to be either at or above the real Living Wage.”
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