[UK] Morrisons becomes first supermarket to pay £10 hourly minimum

Morrisons has become the first supermarket in the UK to break the £10 per hour pay barrier. The news comes at a time when there is particular scrutiny of poor pay levels in an industry requiring workers to be at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Guardian reports.

Bradford-based Morrisons said it would guarantee to pay at least £10 per hour through the new deal, due to begin in April and representing a significant jump in pay for nearly 96,000 colleagues. Morrisons’ minimum hourly pay is currently £9.20 an hour.

In April, the UK minimum wage will rise from £8.72 to £8.91.

David Potts - Morrisons’ chief executive - described the company’s new pay rate as a “symbolic and important milestone that represents another step in rewarding the incredibly important work that our colleagues do up and down the country”.

“Morrisons colleagues have earned their status as key workers, and this pay increase, many times over,” said Mr Potts. The chief exec himself earned £4.2m in 2020.

Morrisons is reportedly covering the majority of costs for the extra wage however a quarter of the cost will be funded by scrapping the discretionary annual colleague bonus scheme. Additionally, the retailer is paying London weighting of 85p for inner and 60p for outer London.

Morrisons has become the first supermarket in the UK to break the £10 per hour pay barrier. The news comes at a time when there is particular scrutiny of poor pay levels in an industry requiring workers to be at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Guardian reports.

Bradford-based Morrisons said it would guarantee to pay at least £10 per hour through the new deal, due to begin in April and representing a significant jump in pay for nearly 96,000 colleagues. Morrisons’ minimum hourly pay is currently £9.20 an hour.

In April, the UK minimum wage will rise from £8.72 to £8.91.

David Potts - Morrisons’ chief executive - described the company’s new pay rate as a “symbolic and important milestone that represents another step in rewarding the incredibly important work that our colleagues do up and down the country”.

“Morrisons colleagues have earned their status as key workers, and this pay increase, many times over,” said Mr Potts. The chief exec himself earned £4.2m in 2020.

Morrisons is reportedly covering the majority of costs for the extra wage however a quarter of the cost will be funded by scrapping the discretionary annual colleague bonus scheme. Additionally, the retailer is paying London weighting of 85p for inner and 60p for outer London.