Asda invests record £150m in staff pay

The grocer is set to increase its hourly base rate of pay by 8.4% to £12.04 for employees across the UK, with employees based within the M25 seeing pay boosted to £13.21. 

The hike follows a 10% increase for hourly roles last year and a 28% boost since the acquisition of Asda by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021.

Asda said the move will make it the highest paying supermarket in the UK on base hourly rate of pay. However, Aldi employees can earn up to £12.95 per hour based on their length of service.

Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa said: “This record investment will see Asda become the highest paying grocery retailer in the UK, recognising the hard work of our store colleagues in serving customers every day. We want to be a company that people are proud to work for, which is why we are proposing increasing pay for retail and Express colleagues by more than 8% this year. As we celebrate our 1,000th  store opening, I want to thank all our colleagues for their commitment and dedication to bringing Asda’s great value fuel and groceries to more communities.”

Staff pay rates at UK supermarkets 

Usdaw national officer Jayne Allport said: “We are pleased to have negotiated a pay increase to £12.04, which takes the basic hourly rate above the real living wage and meets our demands of at least £12 per hour.

“This offer from the company will now go to a ballot of Usdaw members covered by our agreements in Northern Ireland and Asda Express. Usdaw is recommending that they accept. Retail staff are key workers in our communities, ensuring that the nation is fed. They deserve our respect and one of the best ways of showing that is with decent pay, particularly in a cost-of-living crisis.”

The pay hike comes as Asda denies the GMB union’s numerous claims of an unsafe working environment, allegedly prompting another Asda supermarket to vote on industrial action.

The union announced that Asda Lowestoft workers will vote on strike action following a consultative ballot, with the new ballot opening on March 5 and closing on March 26.

GMB said workers are “angry” over issues including cuts in hours, poor quality of training, bullying and unprofessional management, health and safety issues not being addressed, fire safety breaches rampant throughout the store, lack of collective union bargaining, and failure to resolve a longrunning equal pay case.

Similar issues have been raised at other stores, including Gosport – the first-ever Asda supermarket to see some staff walk out.