Nearly 1,000 supermarket workers in Shropshire set for pay-rise as Aldi boosts rate for shop assistants
Hundreds of shop workers across the county are set for a pay rise today, supermarket giant Aldi has confirmed.
The German discount retailer says the rate for its Store Assistants will rise from £12.21 per hour to £13.02 per hour from today, which is above the uplifted minimum wage of £12.25.
The company has 15 stores in Shropshire, with each store employing up to 60 staff.
In a statement in July, Aldi said it was increasing pay for Store Assistants from £12.75 an hour to £13.00 from 1st September, to become the first supermarket to pay its store workers over £13 per hour.
It has now made a further increase to £13.02 an hour, it says to "maintain its position as sector leader". The rate increases to £13.95 with length of service, the firm added.
The company says around 28,000 of its 45,000 UK workers will get a pay rise as a result of the increase.
“Our colleagues are at the heart of our success, and we’re committed to ensuring they are fully rewarded for the outstanding work they do, " said Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer of Aldi UK and Ireland.
"Today’s higher than planned pay rise is part of our promise to never be beaten on pay.”
Aldi claims it's also the only retailer to offer all colleagues paid breaks, which is worth approximately £1,425 a year for the average store colleague.
Earlier this year, the Government increased the national minimum wage to £12.21 per hour for the country's lowest paid workers aged 21 and over, a move it said would result in pay-rises for around 3 million employees in shops, restaurants and workplaces across the UK.
The change was announced last October, and took effect from April 1.
Employment Rights Minister Justin Madders added: "Paying workers a good wage isn’t just the right thing to do; it creates a strong workplace culture and saves businesses money through better productivity and staff retention.
"Our Plan for Change has already put thousands back in the pockets of workers through our increases the minimum wage, and it’s great to see businesses like Aldi going above and beyond to deliver higher pay that truly shows how they value their workforce."
