“We are delighted to be the first major nationwide employer to champion the Living Wage in Ireland”, commented John Paul Scally, Managing Director at Lidl Ireland.
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A similar commitment is also being made to employees in Lidl Northern Ireland, using the sterling benchmarked Living Wage, the company said.
The living wage is defined as the minimum pay workers requires to meet their needs for things like housing, transport, clothing and food.
The company faced criticism after offering the pay rise to staff in England, Scotland and Wales but not workers in its 38 stores in Northern Ireland.
She said: “I congratulate Lidl on its commitment to introduce the Living Wage to all its staff”.
“This is also an important statement of support from a large employer to the voluntary Living Wage campaign, which I and my colleague Minister Ged Nash have been driving”.
Downey said everyone was entitled to a living wage, but not at the expense of someone else in the supply chain.
“From our perspective, attracting and retaining the best employees will mean we’ll have an even better proposition for our customers – the combination of the highest quality products at the lowest prices which will help us continue to grow market share as we build a bigger business more deeply rooted in communities across Northern Ireland”.
However, staff in Northern Ireland were not be paid the enhanced wage. It is an hourly rate that is assessed as giving workers a basic standard of living.
All other staff now earn more than €11.50 an hour.
Employees who begin as store assistants now start on £7.20 per hour, this increases to £8.20 per hour, rising to £8.80 per hour incrementally within three years.
Now, it is reversing that decision and introducing the £8.20 pay rise from 1 November.
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The living wage technical group devised the figure as the amount needed for an acceptable standard of living.
