John Lewis Partnership has announced a £114m investment in pay for 65,000 partners across the business this year.
More than three-quarters (77%, £88m) of the pay investment is voluntary and beyond the requirements of the National Minimum Wage, says the partnership.
From 1st April, the minimum rate of pay for partners outside London will increase from £11.55 to £12.40 an hour, and from £12.89 to £13.85 for partners within the M25.
Over the last three years John Lewis Partnership has invested a total of £295m in partner pay, and the standard hourly rate for partners in its shops has risen by +25%.
Rates of pay will increase to £13.39 per hour for those partners who gain enhanced skills and take on specialist roles in the shops, rising to £14.96 inside the M25. Alongside this, partners who have contributed "exceptionally" to the business will earn additional pay on top of the standard pay increase. This means a customer-facing partner could receive a pay increase of +9.4%.
The investment in pay comes on top of a distinctive benefits package.
Jo Rackham, interim executive director, people, says: “Our partners are co-owners of our business and their service to our customers is what sets us apart, so we have chosen to make another very significant investment in partner pay this year. This signals our continued commitment to our partners’ pay, taking our total investment over the last three years to £295m.”
