Thousands of bank workers will receive a £1,200 bonus to help with the cost of living crisis. 11,000 members of staff at Nationwide are due to receive the payment, according to the high street building society.
It comes as inflation hits 9.4% and household bills are predicted to rise above £5,000 by January 2023. The bonus will not be given to anyone in the company who earns £35,000 or more.
However, around 61% of its staff base are estimated to be entitled to the payment. Those eligible will receive the payment in two equal halves with one £600 arriving in October and the other in December.
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Debbie Crosbie, chief executive officer at Nationwide, said: "The months ahead will be worrying for many people and we’re always considering new ways to help our members. But rising prices affect our colleagues too and that’s why we’re providing this additional support."
Nationwide are not the first to support their staff during the cost of living crisis. The move follows HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander and Virgin Money who have already announced cost of living payments for their workforce, reports the Mirror.
Some 35,000 Barclays staff members have received a £1,200 pay rise this month, while HSBC junior employees are set to receive a £1,500 bonus. Lloyds is offering £1,000 bonus to over 64,000 members of staff, which is 99.5% of the bank’s employees.
Meanwhile, at NatWest, those who earn less than £32,000 across the bank will receive an additional 4% salary increase. Reuters also reported that 11,000 Santander employees would receive a 4% pay rise.
Employees earning under £35,000 would be eligible for the pay rise covering 60% of their workforce. On top of this, the company revealed it will offer a £1,000 one-off bonus to 78% of its employees who earn £50,000 a year or less.
A study by advisory firm BDO showed that half of UK businesses are giving one-off bonuses to support workers through the cost of living crisis. The survey involved 500 leaders of medium-sized businesses.
It revealed that the combination of rising energy costs, inflation and the cost of living poses the greatest challenge to most in the next six months. More than half of the businesses interviewed said they are raising pay by between 4% and 8% with more than a quarter increasing pay by 9% or more to compensate for rising costs.
Other support includes allowing more flexible working-from-home policies to reduce travel costs, childcare support benefits, free meals at work, or shopping vouchers.
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