Supermarket giant, Asda, is offering staff a pay rise in exchange for greater flexibility in working patterns.  

In the news, there have been reports of companies feeling the pinch of the National Living Wage increases and looking at ways to mitigate the costs. However, Asda has announced that the new contract is a voluntary agreement; therefore it is up to employees to decide whether to accept these new terms and conditions or remain on their current contract. It is offering the following terms and conditions to its 135,000 store staff:

• Asda will pay workers £8.50 an hour, which is more than the national minimum. The National Living Wage is currently £7.20 and will rise to £7.50 as of April 2017.
• Breaks will be unpaid.
• Workers can be asked to work in different parts of the store, on different hours or days.
• The night shift window will also change. Currently, it is 10pm to 6am. However, under this new contract, it will be midnight to 5am. For night workers, the premium rate will increase from the current £2.04 to £2.54.
• Employees must work on bank holidays if required. If they do not wish to work on these days, they must take annual leave.

All other non-pay benefits remain the same.

Asda assures that 95% of its staff will be better off under this new contract, which will be implemented in October.