Sainsbury’s is increasing pay for frontline colleagues from March and is awarding them a third one-off payment in special recognition of their incredible efforts to help to feed the nation through the pandemic.
From March the hourly rate of pay for Sainsbury’s and Argos store colleagues will increase to £9.50. This is an increase from £9.30 for a Sainsbury’s colleague and £9.00 for an Argos colleague.
Pay for colleagues working in Zones 1 and 2 of Central London will rise from £9.90 to £10.10. The rise means the retailer has increased pay for Sainsbury’s store colleagues by 24% over the last five years.
In appreciation of their continued commitment to delivering outstanding service for customers, Sainsbury’s is awarding frontline colleagues a third special recognition payment.
The payment, which is the biggest one yet, will be made to colleagues working in stores, as well as logistics and customer Careline teams in May. It will be based on 3% of a colleague’s annual pay, so a full-time colleague will receive over £530 extra.
Through the three special recognition payments and pay rises, Sainsbury’s is rewarding frontline colleagues with over £100m.
The significant investment comes after Sainsbury’s reported in January that after forgoing business rates relief of £410m, the business expects to report at least £330m underlying profit before tax in the financial year to March 2021, in contrast to the £586m profit it made in the financial year to March 2020.
Clodagh Moriarty, Retail and Digital Director, said, “In the last 12 months our frontline colleagues have shown outstanding commitment to our customers. In recognition of everything they have achieved, we are giving them a pay rise, plus an additional one-off payment.
'I feel so proud and humbled by the dedication our colleagues have shown day in, day out and would like to thank everyone for the part they have played in helping to feed the nation throughout an extraordinary year.”
