B&Q to face pressure from campaign groups over pay practices

B&Q announced in February it would be cutting Sunday pay and reducing bank holiday pay and bonuses for some staff. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q, will face further pressure over pay and conditions for staff at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday when campaigners will ask the DIY retailer to reverse cuts made this year.

Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, will ask the board to pay the independently verified living wage, in the latest move of a campaign backed by ShareAction and Citizens UK.

Retailers including Marks & Spencer and Tesco are also expected to be targeted in a continuation of last year’s action, in which campaigners went to a number of companies’ annual shareholder meetings to demand better pay for staff.

Citizens UK pointed out that taxpayers were footing the multibillion-pound bill for low basic salaries through working tax credits and other “in-work benefits”.

Last July George Osborne revealed a rise in the legal minimum wage for over-25s, which he labelled the “national living wage”. The new minimum came into force in April but a number of retailers and other businesses have offset the rise in basic pay by cutting other benefits such as special rates for unsocial hours or overtime.

B&Q announced in February it would be cutting Sunday pay and reducing bank holiday pay and bonuses for some staff. The DIY retailer raised basic pay to a minimum rate of £7.66 an hour from 1 April – 46p more than the new national living wage . Some staff had been on the previous statutory minimum wage of £6.70.

After more than 136,000 people signed a petition against the retailer’s planned cuts to employee benefits, B&Q offered workers two years’ compensation and further negotiations over their pay packages.

Before the shareholder meeting, McDonagh said: “I was glad that B&Q decided to extend their period of compensation for a total of 24 months. However, along with Citizens UK, I am very worried about what will happen after this period is over, and we have had no assurances from B&Q that no employees will lose out. I will be asking B&Q executives what progress they have made regarding what will happen after this compensation period is over.”