Supermarket chain Aldi has has increased pay for its approximately 7,000 UK warehouse staff, effective from 1 February.
Employees at Aldi’s 11 regional distribution centres across Britain, mostly comprising hourly-paid warehouse selectors, have been put on a minimum rate of £13.18 an hour, an increase from £11.48, which was set in January 2022. Employees received two pay rises in 2022, and will be paid up to 20% more than this time last year following the latest increase.
This follows a recent pay review, where Aldi offered store assistants across the UK starting pay of £11.00 an hour nationally as of this month, rising to £11.90, and £12.45 rising to £12.75 for those located within the M25.
The new rates for both store employees and warehouse workers exceed the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended real living wage of £10.90 an hour nationally, with the rate for those who work in the capital also exceeding the foundation’s London recommendation of £11.95 an hour.
The rates are also higher than the national living wage set by the government, a legal minimum for employees aged above 23, which is due to rise to £10.42 for 2023.
Giles Hurley, chief executive officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Just as we promise our customers that we will do all we can to support them, we are equally committed to supporting our amazing Aldi staff, as we remain the highest-paying supermarket in the UK. This announcement recognises the hard work and contribution our workers make in serving communities across the country and it’s down to them that we are able to ensure our customers can access fresh affordable food, every single day.”
Aldi’s latest pay review stated that this year it will introduce up to two days paid leave per cycle of fertility treatment to support any employees on a fertility journey.