Christmas comes early for Lidl’s Kilkenny workers

STAFF employed by Lidl in Kilkenny and across the country have received an early Christmas bonus after it became the first supermarket chain in Ireland to announce a minimum hourly rate of €11.90.

This means more than 700 workers are in line for a pay increase in March 2019. The move is to match the latest revised rate recommended by the Living Wage Technical Group.

Lidl currently employs more than 4,300 employees in 158 stores, head office, distribution centres and regional offices across the country. These including 63 staff members employed in Lidl’s three outlets in Kilkenny; in the Waterford Road (26) and Johnston Road (23) stores in the city, and in Thomastown (14).

John Paul Scally, Managing Director of Lidl Ireland, said: “Lidl is proud to champion the Living Wage in Ireland. Our people are central to our success. They look after our customers, drive our operations and support our communities across Ireland.

“It is important for us to reward them – not just with market-leading rates but also by creating an environment where our colleagues’ holistic needs are prioritised including their overall sense of wellbeing.

“As part of our Work Safe-Live Well programme we’ve invested in many health and wellbeing initiatives over the past number of years, including the Step Challenge, life-saving Heart and Diabetes screening, Mental Health Awareness campaigns and our confidential Employee Assistance Programme.

“By continually investing in our team, we continue to retain and attract the best employees and, in turn, continue to serve our 1.5 million plus weekly customers the highest quality products cheaper than any of our competitors.”