The merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda is under scrutiny as more than 100 MPs signed a letter criticising changes to the company’s proposed employee payment structure, The Times reports.
The changes threaten to leave as many as 13,000 Sainsbury’s workers more than £3,000 a year worse off, it has been alleged, with the UK retailer consulting on a new deal intended to equalise pay across its employee base.
"Unscrupulous"
The Times reported that Labour MP Siobhan McDonagh wrote a letter to the prime minister where she called the potential changes ”unscrupulous”.
McDonagh said, “Under the proposed changes, all employees will lose their paid breaks, there will be widespread cuts to premium pay, including a shortening of nightshift premium hours and a scrapping of Sunday premium pay, and shop floor staff will no longer receive bonuses.”
Over 100,000 people have signed a petition questioning the changes that Sainsbury’s claims will inject over £100 million into employee wages, which will go from £8 an hour to £9.20 an hour, and £9.80 per hour for workers in central London.
Fair And Consistent
Simon Roberts, retail and operations director at Sainsbury’s, said that this is an attempt to create a fair and consistent contract for all its employees.
He highlighted that there were several examples of staff members working side by side and doing the same labour but receiving different pay, depending on when they joined.
He added that McDonagh’s letter did not “accurately reflect how the vast majority of our colleagues are feeling”.
A separate spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said that the £3,000 a year loss was misleading, as the number of employees in this worst-case situation is less than ten.
The UK’s competition regulator invited interested parties to submit their views on the proposed £7.3 million deal last week in advance of any formal investigation.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
