Lidl to give 17,000 employees a wage rise
Lidl has committed to increasing the wages of more than 17,000 of its employees next year to ensure that they are in line with the new voluntary living wage rates announced by the Living Wage Foundation.
Representing an £8 million investment by the retailer, the move will see Lidl raise entry-level pay from £8.75 to £9 per hour outside of London and £10.20 to £10.55 within the M25.
This marks the fourth year that Lidl has increased the pay of its hourly paid employees to match the rates calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. The new rates will come into effect from 1 March 2019.
The increase means that Lidl staff will benefit from pay that is almost 10% higher than the Government’s ‘National Living Wage’ that was announced in the latest Budget.
Christian Härtnagel, Lidl UK chief executive, said: “Lidl is an incredibly exciting business to be a part of right now, with sales continuing to climb and new stores opening every week. Our employees are amongst the most talented and hard working in the industry, and we are committed to supporting them both inside and outside of the workplace.
“With our newest warehouse opening this week in Avonmouth, and a further five set to open in the coming years, along with our pipeline of new stores, we look forward to welcoming more people into the Lidl team.”
In 2017, Lidl added 2,500 new employees to its workforce and is set to open more than 50 new stores in the coming year. It will also launch five new regional distribution centres by 2025.
