Staff bonus returns at John Lewis

Employees working for the John Lewis Partnership are set to receive their staff bonus, despite the business experiencing £26m in losses in 2021.

The department store announced that staff would receive a three percent bonus, which is the equivalent of 1.5 weeks’ pay.

This news comes after the firm shared last year that it would not be paying its workforce any financial remuneration for the first time in 67 years, adding that it would unlikely be able to fork out a bonus in 2022 after experiencing a £517m loss in 2020.

However, the organisation has now shared that it would also pay all partners at least the Living Wage of £9.90 across the UK, equating to a two percent pay rise, reported the Guardian.  

Referring to its partners, who are the staff members that jointly own the company via a trust, Sharon White, chairman of John Lewis Partnership, said: “With our partners, like the whole country, facing a cost-of-living squeeze, we believe that this is the right time to pay the voluntary real living wage, nationwide.”

In addition to this, the business shared that it would also invest £54m in additional pay excluding bonuses.

It comes after the retailer witnessed a rise in sales of one percent reaching £12.5bn in 2021, while the department stores increased sales to £4.9bn, its highest level.

Supermarket Waitrose, which the partnership operates, also enjoyed an increase in sales, spiking by one percent helping to boost the total to £7.5bn for the chain.

Bonus backlash

Last year, the organisation was criticised after it emerged it handed out bonuses to its senior staff, while the wider partnership bonus was scrapped for its partners.

Almost 4,000 special contribution awards were given out, including to 16 managers out of the 79,000 employees in total.

At the time it was revealed that senior managers took home an average reward of £12,281, equating to £196,500, however no executive directors at the retailer were rewarded with a bonus.

While no bonus was awarded to all partners in 2021, some 55,000 shop floor staff received a £200 reward for their hard work.

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