Despite the cost of living crisis, supermarket bosses continue to pocket big pay packages as their workers earn basic wages.
Supermarket pay has made headlines this week as Sainsbury's boss Simon Roberts received a paycheck of £4.95million last year.
The supermarket chain's annual report showed the chief executive picked up £3.96million in bonuses on top of a £899,000 a year salary - this was up 37% from the £3.6million pay packet from the year before.
Staff at some of the UK's supermarket chains have received pay rises over the last few months - some stores are now offering an hourly pay rate above the suggested living wage of £10.90.
However, these bosses are taking home up to 229 times the average worker's pay at a time when households face soaring food prices - at the same supermarkets where they work, reports Yahoo News.
Here we highlight some of the highest-paid bosses at major UK supermarket chains compared to the average wage of one of their workers.
Sainsbury's
Sainsbury's boss Simon Roberts sites at the top of the list with a pay packet worth almost £5million - which includes almost £4million in bonuses.
The total pay package is around 229 times that of the average Sainsbury's worker who earns a typical pay of around £21,635 according to the chain's latest annual report.
In January of this year, Sainsbury's began paying their shop workers a starting wage of £11 an hour nationwide and £11.95 an hour in London.
This was up from the £10.25 and £11.30 before.
This was part of a major investment of £225million into workers pay by the supermarket chain.
Over the last year, Simon Robert's received £17,000 in annual benefits, £67,000 worth of pension payments and and annual bonus of £1.7million.
He also received "long-term" incentives of £2.26million.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told the Mirror: “We are acutely aware of the pressures facing millions of households right now and our number one priority continues to be doing all we can to keep prices low for our customers.
"Our profits and margin are down year-on-year as a result of the significant investments we have made to navigate inflation but supporting our customers, colleagues and suppliers is the right thing to do and remains our biggest priority. In the last two years we have invested over £560million to keep our prices low and we have consistently passed on less price inflation to customers than our competitors.
"We have also prioritised supporting our colleagues by committing £225million over the last year to increasing retail hourly pay colleagues and enhancing other benefits.
"Pay for Sainsbury’s frontline, hourly paid colleagues has increased by 10% in the last year and 44% over seven years. Suppliers and farmers are also facing a really challenging time and we are doing all we can to help them navigate inflationary pressures by providing financial support and working capital where it is needed, including giving £66million of extra support over the last year to British meat, dairy and produce farmers.”
Morrisons
Morrisons came in second place when it comes to the pay gap, with the supermarket boss earning £4.17million in 2020-21.
The latest yearly pay for the supermarket boss is yet to be revealed but if there are no big changes Potts is set to make approximately 225 times more than the average Morrisons worker.
Last year, Morrisons staff received a pay rise taking their hourly pay to £10.20 an hour - London and staff within the M25 earn a little more at £11.05 an hour.
Assuming a 35-hour work week for full-time staff - the average Morrisons worker may earn around £18,000 a year before tax.
This means the average Morrisons worker would have to work approximately 225 years to make what Morrisons boss David Potts earned in 20-21.
Tesco
Tesco takes third place in this ranking with boss Ken Murphy earning around £4.4million over the last year while the average Tesco staff salary came to around £21,000.
The Tesco boss' pay dipped slightly from £4.7million the year before due to missed targets on profits and food waste.
His basic salary however rose by 1.7% to £1.4million.
This pay package was 197 times the total pay and benefits of the average member of staff at Tesco whose pay sat at £21,217 before tax.
Tesco staff have seen their hourly pay rise three times over the last year.
The most recent increase in staff pay saw a rise of 72p from £10.30 to £11.02 whilst Teco workers in the capital earn a rate of £11.95.
M&S
M&S bosses took home more than £2million in pay later year with Stuart Machin earning £2.5million and Katie Bickerstaffe earning £2.22million.
Both execs earned a bonus of £1million and £989,000 respectively - this is included in their overall pay for that year.
Co-chief Katie Bickerstaffe also works a four day week whilst Stuart Machin works a five.
At the same time, the average M&S employee took home £24,000 with the lowest paid workers taking home around £22,000.
This means Bickerstaffe earned approximately 94 times more than a store worker and Machin made about 105 times more.
M&S customer assistants saw their hourly pay increase from £10.20 to £10.90 this April, while those in London saw their pay go from £11.25 to £12.05.
You can see a full list of pay rates across UK supermarket chains here.
M&S Spokesperson said: “Over the past two years, we have invested £103m in front line colleague pay, including our biggest ever investment of £57m this year.
"This represents a 20% increase in hourly rate in the last two years and alongside our generous pension scheme and other benefits, including an all year round 20% colleague discount and newly expanded health and wellbeing package, is one of the strongest reward packages in retail.”
All supermarkets mentioned in this article have been contacted for comment.
