Campaign urges Next, M&S and JD Sports to pay real living wage

The likes of Axa and Scottish Widows are backing campaign group ShareAction in its effort to make major high street retailers such as Next, M&S and JD Sports increase their staff’s pay in line with a real living wage, The Guardian has reported. 

News of this initiative comes as there’s reason to believe that almost a quarter of UK retail workers – approximately 818,000 people – are not being compensated at the rate tracked by the Living Wage Foundation, which accredits employers. 

As a result, seven institutional investors including Axa Investment Managers, Scottish Widows, Trust for London, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Cardano Group will be co-filing a resolution on the issue at Next’s annual shareholder meeting on 15 May. 

The resolution requests that the high street chain, which released its annual results today (27 March), prepare a report detailing how many of its workers and contractors are paid below the real living wage. Additionally, the resolution asks that the company perform a cost/benefit analysis to determine the feasibility of  making the independently verified real living wage its new minimum pay rate.

According to the seven groups involved, Next’s current pay rates may mean it cannot meet its stated aim to create a workplace where everyone is “treated fairly and with respect, listened to [and] motivated to achieve their full potential”. 

Similar resolutions will be put forward at JD Sports’ and M&S’s annual meetings, which are due to be held later this year in July. 

Paid voluntarily by more than 15,000 UK businesses, the real living wage currently stands at £13.85 an hour in London and £12.60 in the rest of the country, while the statutory minimum wage is due to rise by 6.7% to £12.21 from next month. 

Catherine Howard, chief executive of ShareAction, told The Guardian: “The UK’s biggest retailers are failing to support their workers with a real living wage, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the sector struggling to make ends meet.

“Companies whose workforce earn less than a real living wage are ultimately harming the vitality and growth of the UK economy, with business models that put pressure on workers, their families and the state by adding to health and welfare costs.”

It is understood that JD Sports pays the legal minimum wage to all staff aged 21 and over, with no additional pay in higher-cost areas like London. Similarly, Next pays only those over 21 the minimum wage, with some extra pay in London. In contrast, M&S pays the real living wage to its employees but doesn’t extend this guarantee to third-party contracted staff, such as security guards and cleaners.

A JD spokesperson told The Guardian: “All JD UK retail colleagues are compensated above the national living wage for those aged 21 and above, alongside a comprehensive benefits package available from the first day of employment.”

Next has been approached for comment.