Asda ups hourly pay for shop floor workers

Supermarket chain Asda has confirmed it will up the hourly pay of 120,000 shop floor colleagues, increasing to £10.10 per hour from July this year.

This additional pay will give staff an extra 60p on top of the National Living Wage and is supported by a 10% colleague discount in stores and online.

The employer revealed in a release that workers have the opportunity to achieve a bonus of up to £400 at the end of the year as well.

Thanks to this, the supermarket revealed that this combined package will make Asda the highest paying UK supermarket.

Commenting on the move, Mohsin Issa, co-owner of Asda, explained: “We’re proud to be investing in increasing the pay for our hardworking store colleagues and continuing to support the communities we are part of.”

Employees at Asda were previously paid £9.66 an hour, which GMB Union members have been campaigning hard for the employer to increase.

Nadine Houghton, GMB Union’s national officer, welcomed the pay rise, adding that it was something workers “deserve” and “urgently needed”.

“It is fantastic news that people working in Asda stores will have more money in their pockets. It is what they deserve and urgently needed with the rising cost of living,” she commented.

“GMB members in stores across the country have been campaigning hard to get Asda bosses to deliver better pay. We’re glad they have listened.

“Retail workers, predominantly women, face the reality of living with low pay every day. Employers everywhere need to step up and properly reward these key workers who keep our high streets running.”

Female staff ‘exploited’

Asda recently came under fire after it was accused of exploiting female shop workers by giving them a smaller pay rise compared to male co-workers.

At the start of April, Asda handed out a 3.6% pay increase to retail staff, who are mostly made up of women, taking their pay to £9.66 an hour

In contrast, at the time those who work in warehouses, which consist of mostly men, were seeking more after they rejected an offer of a wage hike between 6.5% and 7.5% that would have taken their hourly rate to £11.98.

Due to this, GMB Scotland implored the supermarket to put in place fairer pay policies.

Robert Deavy, organiser of GMB Scotland, said: “Asda needs to value their workers properly with a pay increase that tackles soaring inflation and they need to take full responsibility for their chronic sex discrimination by settling their equal pay liabilities, which could easily run into billions of pounds.”

Secure your ticket for the Payroll & Reward Conference this June to find out why women may be left behind when it comes to financial rewards.