Lidl Ireland has declared that it would be the first significant employer to commit to the current rate of €13.85 suggested by the Living Wage Technical Group for 2023.
The firm will invest €7.5 million to implement this move, which will benefit 4,200 people across Ireland since all other employees presently earn more than the new Living Wage.
The wage is an independently assessed and suggested rate of income required to maintain a socially acceptable level of life.
It is the second wage rise announced by Lidl this year, and it is in recognition of the ongoing hard work and commitment of store and warehouse colleagues, especially while the cost-of-living problem persists.
They stated that a full-time colleague affected by this rise would earn around €1,500 extra each year. Employees will begin to benefit from the new living wage level on March 1, 2023.
This announcement follows the company’s €10 million investment in March of this year, which saw all 5,000 employees earn raises.
Lidl will have invested €17.5 million in salary increases across the organisation over the course of a year, from March 2022 to March 2023.
Speaking about the announcement, Maeve McCleane, chief people officer at Lidl Ireland said: “Our most important asset is our people and now more than ever before, it is vitally important that we deliver on our responsibility to support our employees to overcome the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis as best we can.
“Our latest commitment to adopt the recommended Living Wage for 2023, for the seventh year in a row, will mean a second pay rise announced for more than 84 per cent of our employees in less than 12 months.
“At Lidl, we’ve prioritised building not only an exceptional place to work, but also an inclusive, rewarding and fulfilling culture for our employees with industry leading initiatives including paid fertility leave, the removal of the mandatory retirement age and our compassionate leave policy.
“We can see clear evidence that we continue to be an employer of choice for Irish workers with just over 92,000 applications in 2021 versus 76,000 pre-pandemic in 2019.”