Sainsbury’s has announced it will be investing £200 million to offer a leading rate of colleague pay, increasing to £12 per hour and recognising the hard work of colleagues across Sainsbury’s and Argos.

Effective from March, this is Sainsbury’s single biggest ever investment into colleague pay and 120,000 hourly paid colleagues will benefit. Sainsbury’s has increased pay by 50% since 2018 and by 9% in the last year, in line with the Real Living Wage.

Sainsbury’s has an excellent track record in being a leading employer, with consistent improvement in colleague retention and lower absence. The pay increase to £12 per hour, £13.15 for colleagues in London, makes it the largest supermarket to pay colleagues the new Real Living Wage nationally and the London Living Wage. This will give colleagues an extra £1,910 a year nationally and £2,290 a year in London. The investment of £200 million, brings the three year total investment in colleague pay to over £500 million.

In addition to the pay increases during recent years, Sainsbury’s has provided colleagues with free food during shifts and increased colleague discount of 15% at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% at Argos every payday. This Christmas, all colleagues received a voucher to earn 4x Nectar points on their big Christmas shop, as well as a 20% discount at Sainsbury’s during Christmas week. Sainsbury’s believes that engaged colleagues deliver the best service and overall customer satisfaction scores are consistently ahead of full-choice competitors.

Supporting colleagues with pay and benefits is a key part of Sainsbury’s Save to Invest programme, which focusses on making the business simpler and more efficient, allowing it to invest in areas that will make the biggest difference to customers.

Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s said:

“Our colleagues do a brilliant job delivering for our customers every day and at the same time they are continuing to face the rising costs of living. So, in addition to investing to keep our prices low for customers, I’m delighted to confirm an industry leading pay increase again this year for all our hourly paid colleagues."

"At Sainsbury’s we will be increasing pay by 9.1% to £12 per hour, taking our investment into colleague pay to more than £500 million over three years. For a full time colleague, this is an extra £1,910 a year and this increase is well ahead of inflation and the government’s 2024 national living wage of £11.44.

“We continue to lead our industry in the level of reward and benefits we provide for our people and this remains a clear priority for us at Sainsbury’s. We believe well rewarded, engaged colleagues deliver the best service and attracting and retaining the best talent will be crucial to our success in delivering the next phase of our business strategy.”

Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer said:

“We will always make sure that work pays and are proving it by cutting taxes for 29 million people this week and increasing the National Living Wage by a record amount in April."

“It’s great to see Sainsbury’s rewarding hard work with this pay rise for 120,000 employees around the country.”

Bally Auluk, USDAW National Officer said: "The continuing strong working relationship between USDAW & Sainsbury's has resulted in an inflation busting pay award of over 9% despite inflation falling and following on from the significant pay increases over the previous couple of years. The current cost of living is still on the rise which is why USDAW are very pleased the business has taken this on board during our consultations and responded in such a positive manner, which includes continuing to offer free food and additional discount."