Supermarket chain Aldi is to increase pay for its 40,000 store and warehouse employees to at least £12 an hour nationally and £13.55 within the M25, from 1 February 2024.
Pay rates will rise further for store assistants to £12.95 nationally and £13.85 within the M25 based on employees’ length of service. In addition to this, all salaried members of staff will also benefit from a pay increase as part of Aldi’s £67 million investment.
Its new minimum rate is in line with the real living wage set by the Living Wage Foundation in October this year and is higher than the national living wage rate set by the government, which will rise to £11.44 an hour from April 2024 for those aged 21 and over.
Aldi continues to offer paid breaks, which it calculates is worth more than an additional £900 a year for the average store worker.
Giles Hurley, chief executive officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Just as we promise to provide the best value to our customers, we are also committed to being the highest-paying supermarket in the sector. We are incredibly proud of every single member of Team Aldi and this is a way of thanking them for all their hard work over the past year. We believe our colleagues are the best in the sector and they play a huge part in making Aldi what it is today.”
In March, Aldi announced that it was raising pay for its store assistants to £11.40 per hour nationally and £12.85 per hour within the M25. The change, which took effect from 1 July, benefitted more than 28,000 employees.
Last month, the supermarket confirmed it will close all of its stores on Boxing Day in line with previous years in order to recognise and thank its employees for their hard work.