Supermarket Pay rates for nightworkers

jaygrunt

Junior_Merchant wrote: »

i cant believe no - one has said this but my older brother works at lidl and that pays £9.00 per hour.
i think its because its that depressing no-one wants to work there.
but thats a good wage i would say.
JM

well i work at Lidl and wish that i was on £9 per hour,instead of the measly £6 per hour and when you start you are only on a 20 hour a week contract,sometimes less
I dont know where that figure comes from cos the highest you can earn is £7.70 per hour at Lidl and that is a management level

Wings_of_Ambition

Megatimbo wrote: »

Hello Wings,what sort of Jobs are done at night ? is this mainly involved in stock replenishment /updating ?

Also the pay is pretty good what sort of hours are offered was this on a rota system ie worked 1 weekend a month or whatever.

Hello

It is mostly stock replenishment, yes. I was often given one particular aisle, I worked the cages of excess stock from the night before, then worked the pallets that had come in on the delivery. After a bit of 'facing up' (bringing everything to the front of the shelf), I tidied up and helped in other aisles if needed. There are very few customers at night, although you do occasionally get questions.

I covered the same set days each week, and had the option to take whatever overtime shifts they asked me for (a manager would come round the week before and ask). I worked pretty hard and was flexible with extra shifts, and in return they were very flexible with requests for days off and shift swaps.

Megatimbo

Hello Wings,thanks very much for the info,any tips on how you went about getting a job there,please forgive me i`ve been out of the serious job hunting for awhile

I`ve been on the websites but i find the careers sections aimed at the whizz kids who are graduates etc and are being offered junior management positions if you see what i mean.

Also i will get the local press and maybe even try the job centre although the gov online search is pretty rubbish i think.

Regards M

snaveuk

During my time I've worked at four different supermarkets, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury, in that order. As a guide I left Sainsbury about two years back, and left Morrisons way back in 2001, so this information is out of date (and also only applies to day rates), but some may find it useful.

At Morrissons my rate was about £4 an hour. However I was 17 at the time. Even bearing in mind inflation, this is still less than an adult will bring in, so bear this in mind while reading the prices you'll see in the post. If you are 16-17 supermarkets won't pay you as much.

I was at Asda's between 17-19 and was earning around £5.50 an hour. Did the odd night shift as well, which paid at time and a third. Cheekily you don't get paid for the entire shift at the higher rate, and I believe it was only between the hours of midnight and 5am you got the good rate. I received a discount card for 10% off most products, this was either after 3 months or 6 months. Also you could use the card to get a discount at the local cinema, thou I can't remember which type this was... maybe Vue?

At Tesco's at 20 I was on around £5.15 an hour. All supermarkets have an probationary rate for about the first three months of work, which then rises to a higher rate, maybe upto an extra £1 an hour. I left before then, so do not know the higher rate.

Lastly I was at Sainsbury between 20 and 22, leaving around the beginning of 2004. My final rate was just over £6 an hour, and after either 3 or 6 months service you get a 10% discount as well.

===

Ok, now all my roles were in different departments, however I was on the same job level at all the supermarkets. I believe that after factors such as inflation, age and location (all stores were within the M25) are taken into account, Sainsbury offer the highest rate by a small margin.

Supermarkets do have a fairly high turnover rate, however you do need a certain element of luck. We got bombarded by C.V's everyday, so a good tactic is to return once a week, and build a tie between yourself and the customer service people. When a position arises, you'll likely be one of the ones to get a call up.

In the interview place emphasis on any previous experience you have. Demonstrate a willingness to learn, and a friendly, helpful attitude. Supermarkets aren't charities, and they want the best workforce possible for the wage that they offer.

===

I've wondered a little off topic here, but hopefully you guys will find the above useful :-)

snaveuk

Nearly forgot.... with regards to working nights, weekends, Bank Holidays and Christmas, most places won't pay much of increased wage anymore, if at all.

The wages were higher in the first place to encourage workers to work these days, but with an increase in the workforce willing to work any and all hours, the need to pay more is slowly diminishing.

So if you need extra cash, get in while you can!

Wings_of_Ambition

Megatimbo wrote: »

Hello Wings,thanks very much for the info,any tips on how you went about getting a job there,please forgive me i`ve been out of the serious job hunting for awhile

I`ve been on the websites but i find the careers sections aimed at the whizz kids who are graduates etc and are being offered junior management positions if you see what i mean.

As they tend to have a high turnover of employees, you'll rarely find shop-floor positions advertised online or in papers. Your best bet is to simply ask for an application form at customer services, or alternatively give your local stores a call, speak to personnel, and ask if they're recruiting at the moment. In the run-up to christmas, if they're not taking people on now, I'm sure they will be very soon.

Megatimbo

Hello Wings of Ambition, thanks for the post,i`d like a new job that offers more hours than at present plus i`m not desparate to up my income but a little extra will get me to my goals quicker if you see what i mean.

I have fallen off the wagon somewhat and can mange my money ok,but ive more or less had another low energy light bulb moment and "run the numbers " on what i could be investing /saving for my retirement,as the pension i`m in wont be very much but better than nothing.

Anyway to the question in hand why is the turnover so high is it because of the job itself eg seasonal like xmas or the working conditions,or the workers are really casual like a student doing some hours to get through /supplement their income??

I`d be interested in in any point of view from people who have experience of retail environments etc.

Regards M

theboylard

Evening all,

if you don't mind doing a bit of work, and can speak Polish/Latvian/Lithuanian/Estonian/Slovak/Portuguese/Russian then you could also look at distribution depots for the supermarkets too!!!

Sometimes these are run by third party companies (Wincanton, DHL/Exel are just 2 of this type of company) so don't dismiss them, the pay is slightly higher but as they operate a fixed term contract then it's not a job for life.

From a personal perspective, Morrisons current pay structure depends on where you are in the country and which union is active in the depot (seriously!).
If it's an Usdaw depot (who also have the retail store "franchise"), then you'll get paid less than a depot with GMB/TGW support. Generally, northern folk have GMB/TGWU support, soft southerners get Usdaw.

Current hourly rate is either 7.31/hr or 7.91/hr, depending on the job. You then get shift premiums for Late/Back shift and nights. Hourly paid are on a 4-weekly basis, so 13 pay days a year (which is a nightmare as your payday moves each month, throughout the year - try budgetting for that!!!)
Salaried employees (which is Senior Warehouse/Team Leader, Admin roles and above) are paid monthly.
Holidays vary, but bank holidays are treated as normal working days.

Staff discount scheme to start next month (yeah right!!!), plenty of opportunity to progress - oh, and expect everything to be incredibly manual!!! No high-powered computers here, a few dell pcs and more paper than lordy knows what! Morrisons loves paper, plain as :rotfl:

calleyw

When I worked two nights a week in a supermarket it was hard work. And that was 7 years ago.

We always understaffed. High turn over and no one wanted to work friday and saturday. We did (husband as well as me)so got away with two nights aweek.

Paid every 4 weeks and 10% discount card.

I use to work a full week week as well studying for OU it was very hard to fit it in and have a life.

I have never been so tired in all my life.


Yours


CAlley

Wings_of_Ambition

Megatimbo wrote: »

Anyway to the question in hand why is the turnover so high is it because of the job itself eg seasonal like xmas or the working conditions,or the workers are really casual like a student doing some hours to get through /supplement their income??

You tend to get a mix of people. There are those that have worked in a store for 20+ years and are quite happy there. Then there are others, such as students, or those for whom the job is just a filler between other things (I myself was training to be a pilot, and couldn't do much useful flying in the winter, so got a job at the local Asda knowing full well I'd only be there until the weather improved). Its the latter kind of employee that leads to a high turnover of staff.