Sainsbury's has said it will increase pay for shop workers by 4 per cent, the highest increase in more than a decade.
The supermarket's 137,000 employees will see their pay increase from £7.08 an hour to £7.36 an hour from the end of this month.
Sainsbury’s 40,000 workers under the age of 25 will also get a pay rise.
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The increase puts wages at Sainsbury’s slight ahead of the median paid to workers in the retail industry, which the British Retail Consortium puts at £7.30 an hour.
The change comes before the introduction of Chancellor George Osborne’s 'living' wage in April next year, which sees the minimum raised to £7.20 an hour, from £6.50 at present. Osborne has said he plans to raise the minimum to £9 an hour by 2020.
The UK CEO of McDonald’s said yesterday that the introduction of the living wage would put pressure on UK businesses. Retailers and pub groups have also come out in opposition.
However Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s CEO, told the BBC that the increase was affordable.
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