Asda joins rivals in hiking pay for shop workers as cost of living crisis bites

Asda is also reducing the price of more than 100 items (Rui Vieira/PA) (PA Wire)

Asda has upped pay for shop floor workers to £10.10 an hour amid pressure to bring wages in line with other supermarkets that have hiked pay in recent months.

Rivals Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl have all raised pay for front line staff in the last six months, reflecting the higher cost of living. The moves left Asda the UK’s lowest paying supermarket.

From July 1, the hourly pay for 120,000 Asda workers will rise from £9.66 to £10.10. The new pay is 60p higher than the living wage, an independently verified marker that is set at a rate to reflect the current cost of basic goods such as food and energy.

Coupled with a 10% discount in stores and a potential £400 a year bonus, Asda claims the new package is the best deal for staff among UK grocers.

The pay increase is the second jump for Asda employees this year. Wages were increased from £9.36 to £9.66 an hour in April following tax hikes.

The move is part of a £73 million package of measures designed to combat the financial squeeze faced by millions of households.

Asda said it would drop and then freeze the price of 100 essential items, including its own brand instant coffee and rice, and popular branded products such as John West tuna, Shreddies and Babybell cheese.

Mohsin Issa, co-owner of Asda, said: “We know that household budgets are being squeezed by an increasing cost of living and we are committed to doing everything we can to support our customers, colleagues and communities in these exceptionally tough times.”