asda gives young same adult wage rate

Asda has now announced that it will pay everyone the same rate no matter what their age.

Asda did have a different wage rate for under 18s but has now taken the decision to pay them the same as older workers.

The low price supermarket chain whose parent company is Wallmart in the USA said that this change came about because of the recent change in the anti-age discrimination laws which came into force on 1st October a few days ago.

Of course unions welcomed the decision from Asda and now want the government to do the same.

The minimum wage is on 3 scales. For those aged 16-17, then 18-21 and over the age of 21. The were some people who said the government were flauting their own ageism laws with the different pay scales. The ageism laws say it is illegal to discriminate on age - but the minimum wage is obviously different and only because of the age of the person.

Presently the government say this is a special case but we see this issue not going away.

With Asda they said their pay rates will increase from £5.19 an hour to £5.71 an hour for 16-17 year olds and will likely cost the supermarket chain about £1.7m

Asda said that the new age discrimination law was a factor in its decision to raise youth pay rates for its staff.

“We have taken another look at our policy and have decided… you should be paid for the job you do, regardless of your age,” an Asda spokeswoman said.

The unions and the low pay commission are urging other employers to follow suit.