Tesco has announced that it will award its store employees a 5.1% pay increase from 29 March.
As part of an agreement with trade union Usdaw, the hourly pay rate for employees in stores and online fulfilment centres will rise to £13.28 an hour, as part of a £200 million investment. Its London location allowance will also increase from £1.21 to £1.27, equating to an hourly rate of £14.55 for employees within the M25.
Over the last five years, Tesco’s hourly-paid employees have seen a pay increase of 43%, as the supermarket has focused on supporting its workforce through pay and benefits.
Ashwin Prasad, chief executive officer at Tesco UK, said: “Our employees play a vital role in delivering for our customers every single day. I’m pleased we’re able to announce this pay deal which reflects our deep appreciation for everything they do and represents another meaningful investment in staff pay. Together with our comprehensive benefits package, it reinforces Tesco as a place where people can build a rewarding, long‑term career and continue to grow and thrive.”
Daniel Adams, national officer at Usdaw, added: “Our union reps across the business deserve a significant amount of credit for securing this pay deal, whether they are a rep in-store or part of the negotiating team. This deal builds on the negotiations of the last few years and not only delivers a real terms increase to wages but extends the gap between the Tesco rates of pay and the national living wage.”
Tesco has full union recognition and collective bargaining agreements for all its hourly-paid employees. They also benefit from a staff clubcard discount of up to 15% on their shopping, a retirement savings plan which matches contributions up to 7.5%, a share saving scheme, an employee assistance programme, a virtual GP service, and enhanced family leave policies such as 26 weeks’ fully paid maternity and six weeks’ fully paid paternity leave.
