Booths supermarket plans to drop paid breaks for staff

The supermarket chain says it wants to pay staff above the National Living Wage.

Removing paid breaks will enable it to reinvest the money in staff pay, it says.

Booths staff get extra breaks in the morning and afternoon.

The news was broken to staff last week and a 45-day consultation process has begun.Nothing will change in the frequency or how breaks are taken.

Booths say that to ensure consistency and fairness, the policy will apply to everyone from management to general assistants.

A Booths spokesman said: “Booths has a long term objective to increase the standard rate of pay to a rate that is greater than the National Living Wage (£8.21 for over-25s)

“In order to achieve this, Booths are undergoing a 45-day consultation with colleagues to removed paid breaks and propose to re-invest the money saved into an increased basic hourly rate of pay.“Investing in increased salary rates in entry level positions will enable Booths to be more competitive in recruitment and will result in improved service for Booths customers.

“Booths are also making significant investments in updating and redeveloping stores as part of a number of strategic initiatives that is transforming Booths into a vibrant multi-channel retailer for the future.”

It is believed that most Booths employees are non-union.

E.H. Booth & Co. Ltd was founded in June 1847 when 19-year-old tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth opened a shop called The China House in Blackpool.

In 1863, he added the sale of wines and spirits, and branches were opened in Lytham in 1879 The company called in accountants for a financial review in 2017 year after a difficult year.

It later said reports that the store chain was up for sale were “highly speculative”.

But this year the food and drink retailer said it had recorded strong 2018 Christmas sales.

It reported a 3.3 per cent increase over the key three-week trading period to January 5.