Tesco Bank has given more than 3,400 members of staff a £1,250 pay increase in order to help them with the rising cost of living.
According to the bank, more than 90% of its workforce, namely those likely to be feeling the greatest impact from current financial challenges, are eligible for the increase on a full-time equivalent basis, effective as of this month.
The uplift to salaries, which followed discussions between Tesco Bank and trade unions USDAW and Unite, was introduced in addition to the bank’s annual pay review which will follow in May 2023 as normal.
Gerry Mallon, chief executive of Tesco Bank, said: “The rising cost of living is having an impact on households across the country, and we’ve been listening to staff about how this is affecting them. That’s why we’ve taken action and awarded a permanent increase to base pay for the majority of our employees. The salary increase aims to provide sustainable, long-term support to colleagues, including our contact centre colleagues who show great commitment to helping our customers in the current economic climate.”
The bank is the latest in a series of employers to provide staff with cost-of-living support. Publishing business Hachette awarded its UK and Ireland publishing and distribution employees with a non-consolidated £1,000 cost-of-living payment that came into effect in January. Senior team members will not be eligible for the payment, which is in addition to a total of £1,000 in cost-of-living payments made by the employer over the past five months.
Meanwhile, banking organisation NatWest implemented a one-off cash payment of £1,000 for all employees in junior and junior manager positions this month, benefitting approximately 59,000 global members of staff and 39,000 UK-based employees.
