More than 15,000 Jaguar Land Rover employees will benefit from better pay and conditions after a deal was struck between the car manufacturer and trade union Unite.

Jaguar Land Rover-2014

The organisation has increased its original offer of a 3% pay rise to a 4.5% pay rise plus a bonus worth £825 per employee as part of a two-year deal.

Staff will receive a rise of either 3% or the retail price index measure of inflation plus 0.5% (whichever is higher) in the second year.

The organisation was urged to renegotiate with employees after members of staff rejected its previous three-year pay deal in November on the grounds that they wanted a bonus and salary increase, which fell in line the with the organisation’s profit share.

Employees will be balloted on the new pay offer.

Jaguar Land Rover employees also voted against proposed changes to its final salary pension scheme, including £240 million worth of pension cuts, despite pension changes to the scheme being agreed with the workforce two years ago.

But there are no pension proposals in the new deal.

A joint statement Jaguar Land Rover said: “This pay offer includes recognition of Jaguar Land Rover’s recent performance and agreements on working practices with Unite that ensure that the company can meet its business plan commitments.”