£1200 boost as Lidl staff get the new living wage

Lidl said it will pay a minimum of £8.20 an hour across Scotland, England and Wales, and £9.35 an hour in London from 1 October.

It’s also a lot more than the Government’s £7.20-an-hour National Living Wage from next April – which has triggered protests by other bosses.

A spokeswoman for Lidl said that the rise in wages would not affect the supermarket’s prices.

Lidl’s living wage policy is based on what the Living Wage Foundation has calculated is the minimum hourly rate needed to get by.

Lidl has announced it will pay its staff the Living Wage, bagging itself good publicity, thumbing its nose at its struggling competitors and throwing down a gauntlet to the numerous retailers and restaurants that have said they will struggle to pay the new National Living Wage (NLW).

The rate is different from the National Living Wage as set out in the Budget.

Ronny Gottschlich, chief executive of Lidl United Kingdom , said: ‘We recognise that every employee forms an integral part of team Lidl, and each individual’s contribution is valued.

Lidl, together with fellow discount chain Aldi, is putting pressure on the wider United Kingdom supermarket sector and have sparked a fierce price war among rivals.

Tory MP Alan Duncan, who now serves as worldwide development minister, said in 1994 the minimum wage “would destroy jobs” and “should best be dropped altogether”.

“It sets a challenge to the rest of the United Kingdom supermarket sector, that has until now claimed that paying staff the living wage was just not possible”.

The director of the Living Wage Foundation, Rhys Moore, told the BBC: “We are thrilled”.

Moody’s, the credit rating agency, has predicted that supermarkets, which each employ many thousands of low-paid staff, would either have to cut jobs or increase prices to deal with Osborne’s plan.

A recent poll by Nationwide revealed that more than 85% of people think that employers that can afford to pay the living wage should do so.

The Foundation will announce a change in its recommended rates in November. Accredited companies promise to pay the living wage as it increases and to include contract staff such as cleaners as well as permanent employees.

She added: “At this stage our focus is on our employees and ensuring that the rollout is seamless”.