31st Dec 2015 07:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sports Direct International PLC on Thursday confirmed it will pay its staff above the UK National Minimum Wage starting from January 1, 2016.
The sports retailer said this will affect both its directly employed UK employees and directly engaged casual workers, and will cost the company around GBP10 million annually.
Earlier the Daily Mirror reported that Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley had pledged to raise workers' salaries by 15 pence an hour from 2016. This will benefit around 15,000 employees on zero-hours contracts and 4,000 agency staff, Daily Mirror said, and comes after Sports Direct was criticised for its treatment of staff.
The UK government's soon-to-be introduced National Living Wage starts at GBP7.20 an hour for all workers over the age of 25, rising to GBP9.00 an hour in 2020.
Sports Direct's new rates mean workers aged 21 and over will go from GBP6.70 an hour to GBP6.85 an hour, while over 25s will be paid GBP7.35 an hour. The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise to GBP5.45 from GBP5.30 an hour, according to the Mirror.
"I realise this is ambitious and it won't be easy but I believe that as a FTSE 100 or even 250 company we have a responsibility to set a high moral standard," Ashley told the Mirror.
The move by Sports Direct comes weeks after The Guardian newspaper published a report claiming many temporary workers at the Shirebrook depot in Derbyshire were being paid effectively under the minimum wage.
"I'm making a New Year's resolution pledge to the Daily Mirror - and I'm deadly serious," Ashley told the paper. "I want to see Sports Direct become the best high street retail employer, after John Lewis."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mike-ashley-vows-pay-sports-7095975
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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