Sainsbury's has announced a second pay rise for its lowest paid colleagues this year as part of a multi-million pound cost of living support package.
The supermarket giant has invested £25million that will see 127,000 store colleagues receive an extra 25p per hour and free food during their shifts in a bid to help with rising household costs.
Store colleagues outside of London at both Sainsbury's and Argos will see their hourly rate increase from £10 to £10.25, while the rate for London staff members increases from £11.05 to £11.30. It comes after the supermarket chain announced a pay increase for its staff members to £10 earlier this year in January and it is the first time they have given a raise outside of the annual pay review.
The unprecedented pay rise will come into effect from October 16 and will benefit workers across retail, local fulfilment centres and customer service contact centres.
It will bring investment into colleague pay this year to £150 million and takes the pay increase for frontline hourly paid colleagues to 7.9% this year and 28% over five years.
Workers will also be given access to free food during their shifts from October until December in a bid to help them manage their budgets from Autumn until the run up to Christmas, as well as extra discounts at Sainsbury's and Argos.
Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s said: “Every day, I am hearing from colleagues who are really feeling the pressures of the rising cost of living. That’s why we are doing everything we can to help our colleagues as they face rising bills and living costs this autumn by investing £25 million into a package of support, including an early pay increase. This is the first time we have given two pay rises in the same year.
“Our top priority is to support our customers and colleagues. We are proud of our track record on colleague pay and, with this latest package of an additional pay rise, free food at work and bigger colleague discounts, we are very focused on doing as much as we can to help our colleagues and their families through this autumn and winter.”
It comes after the supermarket chain announced it was investing millions of pounds into its pricing in a bid to help households tackle rising prices when at the supermarket.
The Daily Record previously reported that £60million pounds had been invested into the supermarket's pricing campaigns, with most of the cash going towards their Price Lock campaign.
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