Tesco has confirmed it is cutting pay for certain staff who work on Sundays, Bank Holidays, late nights and overtime.

But the retailer also claimed that most staff would enjoy pay rises of up to 3.1%. As part of a two-year deal on pay, staff affected by the reductions in pay for working anti-social hours will get a one-off lump sum “transition payment”, worth 18 months of the difference in pay.

The supermarket giant also announced a pay rise of up to 3.1% for all “established” colleagues across its UK stores from July.

By way of explanation, a Tesco spokesperson said: “The pay rise of up to 3.1% and an hourly wage of at least £7.62 an hour will go to staff who have been with the retailer for nine months or more.”

Around 90% of Tesco’s staff affected by the plans will get the full 3.1% rise, and the rest will get “something very close to that”.

Understanding what’s important

Matt Davies, chief executive of Tesco UK and Republic of Ireland, said: “We’ve spent a lot of time working with Usdaw [The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers] and colleague representatives to understand what’s important to colleagues.

“Together, we’ve agreed one of the highest pay and benefits packages in retail for store colleagues, and introduced a simpler and fairer pay structure, including one approach to premium payments.

“As well as an increase in pay, which puts our hourly rate well above the government’s National Living Wage, we remain absolutely committed to rewarding our colleagues with a pay and benefits package they really value, including a pension, colleague discount and 5% turnaround bonus.”

Last week, it was announced that Tesco will be censured by the Groceries Code Adjudicator, following a year-long investigation into its supplier payment terms.

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