Aldi will continue to pay the UK supermarket sector’s highest entry level hourly rate for store workers, with an offer that trounces rises announced by rivals.
From 1 March, the hourly rate for Aldi store workers will rise from £13.65 to £14 within the M25 and from £12.40 to £12.71 elsewhere in the UK.
It beats two forthcoming pay rises announced earlier in January by Sainsbury’s. In March, Sainsbury’s hourly rate will go from £13.15 to £13.70 in London and from £12 to £12.45 elsewhere in the UK. In August Sainsbury’s rate will rise again, to £13.85 in London and £12.60 elsewhere.
Based on current rates, Aldi is the joint-highest-paying supermarket along with Lidl, with Aldi’s newly announced rise set to put it ahead of its discounter rival. However, there is still time for Lidl to match Aldi’s new rate before March.
Read more: How pay & benefits stack up at Britain’s biggest supermarkets
The two discounters are typically the joint-highest-paying supermarkets in the country, with their expansion programmes requiring a pipeline of new recruits.
Aldi said its new rate exceeded the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation in October.
Its rates rise with length of service. From March onward, the higher rates for workers to have completed a minimum length of service will be £13.62 nationally and £14.23 within the M25.
Aldi is also the only major supermarket that continues to offer paid breaks, which it says are worth £1,370 a year to its average store worker.
“Our colleagues are the best in the business and this latest pay rise reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring they remain the best paid,” said Aldi UK & Ireland CEO Giles Hurley.
“Every single Aldi colleague plays an absolutely vital role in delivering on our promise to bring unbeatable Aldi prices to even more customers across the UK.”
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