Around 26,000 retail workers will see their pay boosted for the second time in two years from today, April 1.
Discount fashion chain Primark has announced staff will get an average rise of 12%, which will take pay to £11 for staff across the UK and £11.51 for staff working in the retailer's London stores. Staff will see the increase in their April payslip with the new hourly rates introduced for staff from April 1.
Primark will also be removing age-related pay rates for those under 23, which means that all Primark retail assistants, no matter their age, will be paid the same wage for the work they do.
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Primark said the wage increase follows the retailer's plan announced last November of investing at least £140million in the UK high street over the next two years in a move that it says will create 250 new jobs. The chain has 192 stores in the UK currently, including those in Newcastle, Metrocentre and Sunderland.
This is the second pay rise Primark has given staff in the last two years with the retailer having also upped wages by 12% last year.
Before, Primark paid their staff dependent on their age, which was in line with the Government's rates of pay with National Living Wage being paid to those over 23 years, and minimum wage being paid to those under. Minimum wage is then paid at different rates for the ages of between 21-22, 18-20, and those under 18. You have to be 16 years old to get a job at Primark.
The wage increases for Primark staff are over the UK's Living Wage from April 2023-24 which is £10.42.
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