Sainsbury’s ups pay packets in response to pressure from workers

Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second largest supermarket group, has bowed to pressure from employees and trade unions by changing some of the pay proposals it detailed in March as part of a move to simplify the company’s wage structure.

The group, which in April agreed a £7.3bn takeover of rival Asda, employs 195,000 workers in Britain and Ireland and is the UK’s second biggest private sector employer after Tesco.

Sainsbury’s said on Thursday that after a consultation process with staff representatives and unions it had agreed to increase unsociable hour premium payments, extend location pay supplements to staff working in all outer London areas rather than just inner London, and raise online driver payments.

It said the amendments would cost more than £10m, in addition to the £100m it said the proposals would cost in March.

However, Sainsbury’s has maintained the main elements of its March proposals, including an hourly rate increase from £8 to £9.20 per hour from September but the removal of payments for breaks and an annual discretionary staff bonus.

As a result more than 121,000 employees will receive an average pay rise of 9.3%. Sainsbury’s will make top-up payments for an 18-month period to about 9,000 employees who will not benefit from the changes.

Earlier this week about 100 UK legislators signed a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May criticising Sainsbury’s proposals, claiming some employees could lose up to £3,000 a year.

However, a spokesman for the retailer said fewer than 10 employees stood to lose that amount.