Costa Coffee has followed Starbucks in pledging to pay its staff more.
From today Costa workers in London (of all ages) will earn a minimum of £8.20 an hour, rising to over £9. Meanwhile, staff working at Costa coffee shops outside the capital will be paid a minimum of £7.40 an hour, once they have completed their initial training, said Costa’s owner Whitbread.
The move puts their pay above George Osborne’s National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for over 25-year-olds, which comes into force next April.
The figure also beats Starbuck’s bottom-level wage of £7.20, which the American chain will introduce next April.
Chris Rogers, managing director of Costa, said: “We have been working on introducing new rates of pay and progression scales for some time now and today’s announcement represents a significant investment in our teams.
Training
“We have chosen to pay the same rates to everyone as we strongly believe that if two people are making the same contribution, they should receive the same pay and that it should be linked to training and skills levels, not age.”
Also from today, the apprentice rate of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) goes up by 57 pence to £3.30 and the NMW rate for adult workers will rise by 20 pence from £6.50 to £6.70 per hour.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “The boost for apprentices is the largest ever and means that those working 40 hours a week will now have £1,185 more in their pay packet over the year. By implementing a rate higher than the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendation, apprenticeships will deliver a wage that is comparable to other choices for work.”
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