My Early Retail Experience
When I started working at Boots in 2007 as a Sunday employee, I received a surprisingly high salary compared to colleagues who had been there for years. I was being paid £15.50 an hour, and back then this was before a minimum wage was set. I was very lucky to be getting that. This always seemed somewhat unfair to me. Now, it appears that Sunday premium pay may be becoming a thing of the past in retail.
The recent announcement from Tesco highlights this trend. While they're increasing hourly wages by 5.2% (raising rates to £12.45 from 30 March, with another increase to £12.64 planned for August), they're simultaneously eliminating the 10% Sunday pay bonus for all staff. This bonus had already been discontinued for new employees.
Tesco is investing £180 million in these pay increases, and the USDAW union has noted that the new rates ensure "a meaningful gap" between Tesco pay and the National Living Wage (which rises to £12.21 in April). Workers in London will see their rates increase to £13.66, then £13.85.
This follows similar patterns across the industry:
- Sainsbury's announced a 5% pay increase in January
- Lidl is raising hourly rates from £12.40 to £12.75
The timing coincides with upcoming changes announced in Rachel Reeves' October Budget, which will increase both the national minimum wage and employer National Insurance contributions in April. Business groups have warned these added costs could lead to higher prices, job cuts, and closures.
These changes are occurring against a backdrop of significant growth in the UK retail sector, which reached approximately £496 billion in 2022. Despite this growth, the industry faces challenges, with food store sales volumes falling to their lowest levels since April 2013 as of December 2024. The retail landscape has also transformed dramatically with online sales now representing over 26% of all retailing by the end of 2024.
As a major employer with around three million people working across more than 235,000 enterprises, changes to retail pay structures affect a substantial portion of the UK workforce. My experience in 2007, earning £15.50 an hour before minimum wage regulations, seems increasingly like a relic of a different retail era, where Sunday work commanded premium compensation. As retailers standardise their pay structures, the special status of Sunday employment appears to be diminishing across the sector.