Fact Service October 2015

Issue 39

Supermarket to pay above Living Wage


Supermarket chain Morrisons is the latest retailer to announce a tidy pay rise, following on from the likes of rival Sainsbury’s and IKEA.


Morrisons has announced that it will pay staff a minimum of £8.20 an hour from March 2016. This is up from Morrisons’ current minimum of £6.83 an hour and will benefit more than 90,000 staff; the increase will apply to staff of all ages. 


It means that the supermarket will be paying above the voluntary Living Wage outside of London. The present rate is £7.85 per hour across the UK while in London it is £9.15. These rates are due to rise during Living Wage Week in November.


Rhys Moore, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “We encourage other retailers to follow suit, and join more than 1,800 other businesses that recognise the Living Wage as a mark of responsible business.”


At the firm’s annual general meeting in June, Morrisons chair Andrew Higginson agreed to meet with campaigners ShareAction and Citizens UK on the issue of pay and the Living Wage.


www.livingwage.org.uk/news/morrisons-increase-hourly-pay