The move – which will cost the company £9million – sees Lidl increase pay above the Government’s new national living wage which is introduced next year.
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The German discounter will increase its minimum pay across England, Scotland and Wales from the current £7.30 to £8.20 from October 1. Store Assistants working in Lidl NI earn up to £8.60 per hour.
Lidl is to become the first supermarket to pay it’s workers the full living wage.
A recent poll by Nationwide revealed that more than 85% of people think that employers that can afford to pay the living wage should do so.
The foundation’s living wage is distinct from and higher than the “national living wage” announced by George Osborne in his July budget.
Next April, the Government’s new wage rules come into play, with that starting at £7.20, rising to £9 an hour by 2020.
The Foundation campaigns for companies to pay staff enough to meet the cost of living and sets a rate it believes achieves this.
Aside from the issue of how much local authorities decide to pay care providers, there are other side effects of an increase in the National Minimum/ Living Wage which will affect the social care sector.
United Kingdom boss Ronny Gottschlich said employees will be amongst the best paid in the supermarket sector.
The director of the Living Wage Foundation, Rhys Moore, told the BBC: “We are thrilled”.
Darren Topp, chief executive of BHS, said that the new NLW will make the struggling retailer’s three-year turnaround plan “more difficult”. In a recent tendering exercise one local authority posed the question as to whether organisations were committed to paying the living wage. She said: “It’s good for Lidl because it gives them a halo of corporate responsibility around this”. No but seriously, it’s important to consider the knock-on effects of companies paying so many of their staff higher wages.
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Lidl is trying to attract customers from more up-market rivals by opening stores in affluent areas. “We feel confident that the Living Wage Foundation will welcome this announcement”.
