Second rise at Lidl makes it best-paying UK supermarket
Lidl is increasing staff wages for the second time this year in a £39.5m investment that propels it to the top of the supermarket pay league table.
Entry-level hourly rates will increase from £10.10 to £10.90 outside London and £11.30 to £11.95 within the M25 that circles the capital.
The hourly rate tops the current highest level paid by its rival Aldi – of £10.50 and hour – which it introduced last month. The difference amounts to less than 50p per eight-hour shift as Aldi’s rate includes pay for the 20-minute legally required break for someone working six hours or more.
Lidl said the latest pay rise for all store and warehouse workers, which will be introduced next week, represents an increase of between 10% and 14.5% in hourly wages since this time last year.
It said that the pay increase would benefit 23,500 employees at its 935 stores and 13 warehouses across the country, with a full-time worker set to earn about £2,000 more annually.
The supermarket said the rise means that 40% of staff on hourly wages will be earning £12 as a result of their length of service with the discount chain.
Ryan McDonnell, chief executive of Lidl GB, said: “This is the second increase to pay rates that Lidl has introduced this year and is in recognition of the ongoing hard work and dedication of our store and warehouse colleagues.” Lidl said the two pay rises in eight months will cost it £50m.
The company’s latest investment, its highest ever in staff rates, puts it at the top of the pay league among the UK’s supermarkets and is the latest in a wave of wage rises and cost of living support to be given to workers across the sector.
On Wednesday, Marks and Spencer increased hourly pay for the second time this year, so that 40,000 staff are now on
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