M&S to pay London shop assistants £13.15 an hour and bring in paid paternity leave
M&S will pay its London shop assistants £13.15 an hour, as it spends £89 million on pay rises for its staff.
The retailer announced a number of pay rises, with its rate for shop assistants outside of the capital rising to £12 an hour, in line with the National Real Living Wage. Pay in the capital is in line with the :London Living Wage.
Team support managers in London will be paid £14.20 an hour.
M&S will also introduce six weeks’ paternity leave at full pay, and increase its paid maternity leave to 26 weeks. It says that this will cost £5 million.
CEO Stuart Machin said: “Our vision is to be the most trusted retailer - and that starts with being the most trusted employer. That’s why today we’re making our biggest ever investment in our retail pay offer to recognise our colleagues for the vital role they play each day. It means that since March 2022, we’ve invested more than £146m in our retail pay offer and increased our standard hourly rate by more than 26%.
“But creating a great place to work isn’t just about pay; it’s about the overall package and colleagues feeling valued and able to be their best. That’s why, in addition to our pay increase, I’m delighted to announce some significant improvements to our family leave policies to support colleagues through life’s big moments.
“A huge thank you to our 65,000 colleagues for their continued hard work.”
UK retailers have been drastically upping their pay in recent years, to keep up with high inflation. Discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi have upped their pay for shop assistants in London to £13.55 and £13.85 an hour, respectively.