Tesco has been criticised after a month-long delay to a promised pay rise has left hundreds of staff earning less than the minimum wage.
The grocery giant, which employs more than 330,000 workers, revealed this week it was increasing the minimum pay for its shop workers from £11.02 to £12.02 as of 28 April – almost a month after the legal minimum wage for those aged 21 and over increases to £11.44.
The delay is allowed under HMRC rules, which ensures minimum pay rates are applied from the start of the “pay reference period” starting on or after 1 April – which for Tesco is on 28 April.
According to The Guardian, based on the 220,000 store staff affected by the delay to the pay rise, Tesco saves more than £17m by introducing it at the end of next month.
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Usdaw union national officer Daniel Adams said: “Whilst we would have preferred that the company implemented this increase earlier, as Usdaw had originally requested, the regulations do allow them to make that decision.
“Usdaw has negotiated a significant pay rise that makes Tesco workers amongst the highest paid in the sector.
“While the union will always seek implementation on the pay anniversary date, which was 2 April last year, the outcome of these negotiations meant that the date was delayed until later in April to allow for the highest investment in pay possible.”
A Tesco spokesperson told The Guardian: “We are investing over £300m in colleague pay, bringing our hourly rate to £12.02, which is significantly ahead of the national living wage, in a deal that has the full support of Usdaw.
“Our new rate is effective from our April pay period as set out in the HMRC guidelines, and we are fully compliant with all NLW requirements.
“We have a strong track record of making substantial investments in colleague pay and, since 2022, we have increased hourly pay by 26%, investing more than £750m in our colleagues.”
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