Boots: 1% increase for retail staff

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Key details

  • Pay award: 1% increase on spot rates
  • Employees covered (nos.): retail staff (50,000)
  • Effective date: 1 June 2009

Spot rates for 50,000 sales assistants and consultants at Boots have increased by 1%, effective from 1 June 2009. Under the terms of the review, the minimum adult rate moves to £5.90 an hour, pitching it above the level of the national minimum wage, from October 2009, of £5.80 per hour. The lowest hourly rate of £5.34 for under-18s is now £1.77 above the October 2009 minimum wage set for 16- to 17-year-olds.

Annual leave

From 1 May 2009, the annual holiday entitlement for new starters was reduced. Basic annual leave for those joining the company is now 22 days for employees working in stores in England and Wales (21 days if based in Scotland), rising to 30 days after 20 years' service. Public holidays are given in addition to this. Employees who joined the company prior to 1 May 2009 continue to receive a minimum of 24 days' holiday in Scotland and 25 days for England and Wales, rising to a maximum of 30 days after 20 years' service.

All employees remain eligible to receive a 22.5% discount on Boots products, and 12.5% off the price of other lines.

Last year, spot rates for retail staff increased by 3% for over-18s and 10% for under-18s, effective from 1 June 2008.

Example pay scales for sales assistants and sales consultants are set out in the tables below.

Table 1: Boots: sales assistant salary scales, 1 June 2009

Pay zone

Over age of 18, £ph

Under age of 18, £ph

 

Entry
(First year)

Experienced

Entry
(First year)

Experienced

4

7.39

7.78

6.82

7.18

3

6.59

6.93

6.01

6.32

2

6.23

6.57

5.71

6.00

1

5.90

6.03

5.34

5.46

 

Table 2: Boots: sales consultant salary scales, 1 June 2009

Pay zone

Over age of 18, £ph

Under age of 18, £ph

 

New joiners
(First six months)

Full

New joiners
(First six months)

Full

4

8.46

8.91

7.80

8.21

3

7.55

7.95

6.87

7.24

2

7.15

7.52

6.52

6.87

1

6.50

6.85

5.95

6.24

Pay zone examples

Pay zone 1: Bangor (Northern Ireland), Belfast, Bradford, Dover, Durham, Dundee, Hull, Isle of Wight, Ipswich, Margate, Plymouth, Sunderland, Wolverhampton.

Pay zone 2: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Manchester, Newbury, Norwich, Portsmouth, Southampton.

Pay zone 3: Bracknell, Cambridge, Chichester, Guildford, High Wycombe, Oxford, Outer London, Reading, Reigate, Swindon, Winchester, Woking.

Pay zone 4: Canary Wharf, inner London, London airports, central London railway stations.