Aldi is raising minimum hourly pay for store staff from £11.07 to £11.55 within the M25 and from £9.55 to £10.10 elsewhere in the country.
The discounter said the new rate from 1 February 2022 would see it retain its position as the UK’s highest-paying supermarket.
Lidl recently claimed it would be the highest-paying supermarket with new rates from March next year of £11.30 in London and £10.10 elsewhere, up from £10.85 and £9.50 respectively.
However, Aldi also said today it was the only remaining supermarket to offer paid breaks, worth £750 a year to the average store assistant.
Both discounters’ new rates are higher than the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended real living wage of £9.90 an hour nationally and £11.05 an hour inside the M25.
“The commitment and enthusiasm of our colleagues has driven our success over many years, particularly during the last 18 months,” said Aldi UK & Ireland CEO Giles Hurley.
“We want to ensure our colleagues are always fully rewarded for their amazing work. These new rates, together with the fact that we are the only supermarket to pay colleagues for breaks taken during their shifts, means we continue to offer the best pay in the supermarket sector.”
Aldi has 28,000 store assistants in its 950 UK stores.
The supermarket is currently recruiting more than 2,000 additional store staff as part of a £1.3bn investment plan over the next two years, as it works towards its longer-term target of 1,200 stores by 2025.
Last year, Aldi gave store staff a 10% Christmas bonus as a thank you for their commitment through the pandemic, on top of a month’s wages.
The discounter closes stores on Boxing Day every year, while several others have done so as an exception to give staff more time off during the pandemic.
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