Sainsbury’s is increasing colleague pay by 9.1% to £12 per hour and £13.15 in London following a £200m investment.
The change will roll out in March, with 120,000 hourly paid colleagues benefiting from what the grocer claims is its single biggest ever investment into employee pay.
The £200m brings Sainsbury’s total investment to over £500m across the last three years, with pay having increased by 50% since 2018 and by 9% in the past year in line with the Real Living Wage.
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The move makes Sainsbury’s the largest supermarket to pay staff the new Real Living Wage nationally and the London Living Wage, with employees receiving £1,910 more a year nationally and £2,290 a year in London.
Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: “Our colleagues do a brilliant job delivering for our customers every day and at the same time they are continuing to face the rising costs of living.
“So, in addition to investing to keep our prices low for customers, I’m delighted to confirm an industry leading pay increase again this year for all our hourly paid colleagues.
“We continue to lead our industry in the level of reward and benefits we provide for our people and this remains a clear priority for us at Sainsbury’s.”
In recent years, the supermarket giant has offered staff free food during shifts and increased the staff discount to 15% every Friday and Saturday.
Roberts added: “We believe well rewarded, engaged colleagues deliver the best service and attracting and retaining the best talent will be crucial to our success in delivering the next phase of our business strategy.”
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