Lidl has announced plans to increase the hourly rate of thousands of workers in a multi-million pound investment that will see them becoming the UK's best paying supermarket.
The budget supermarket chain has invested £23.5million to raise the hourly rate of more than 23,500 store colleagues and warehouse workers in every branch across the country.
Starting from Saturday, October 1, entry level rates £10.10 to £10.90 outside of London and £11.30 to £11.95 within the M25. The pay rise will see workers earning £12 and £13 respectively - beating out rival Aldi's £10.50 an hour.
It means that workers at the UK's sixth largest supermarket will now see their annual salary increase by an extra £2,000.
In addition, the Nightshift Premium will also increase from £2.00 per hour to £3.00 per hour along with the Freezer Premium, which will increase from £1.00 per hour to £1.50 per hour.
Lidl has said that the pay increase makes up part of a £50million investment into their hourly rates of pay this year and represents an increase of between 10-14.5% since this time last year and means that 40% of hourly paid colleagues will be earning £12.00 an hour as a result of their length of service.
This is the second time that the discounted supermarket has raised their hourly rates this year in a bid to help their employees tackle the ongoing cost of living crisis.
It also follows a long track record of annual pay rate increases by the supermarket, with over £83.5 million invested into hourly pay across the past six years.
Ryan McDonnell, CEO, Lidl GB comments “We have introduced these rate increases to reflect the key role and tireless efforts of our incredible colleagues working in our 935 stores and 13 warehouses.
The role that we as a discounter play in giving households access to good, affordable food cannot be underestimated, now more than ever. But the ongoing commitment and dedication of our colleagues in making it all possible for our customers cannot be underestimated either – our business simply would not run without them.”
Lidl's pay rise comes as multiple UK supermarkets have been increasing hourly wages to help their staff members tackle the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Sainsbury's recently announced that 127,000 store colleagues would receive a second pay rise as part of a cost of living support package, with workers earning an extra 25p an hour.
Aldi also confirmed a second pay rise that now sees all store colleagues earning £10.50 an hour nationally, while those inside the M25 increased to £11.95 an hour.
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