Pay campaigners to address Kingfisher board at shareholder meeting

At today’s Annual General Meeting, Siobhain McDonagh – the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden – is to ask Kingfisher’s board to overturn the decision to cut Sunday and bank holiday pay premiums, along with other benefits. 

McDonagh is representing ShareAction, a charity which is engaging with companies to encourage them to adopt a strategy that takes environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into account when undertaking analysis and making financial decisions; urging them to recognise that long-term prosperity requires a move away from short-term profit as the only definition of value.

She will request that Kingfisher pays its B&Q staff the voluntary Living Wage Foundation’s (LFW) Living Wage, which is higher than the Government’s National Living Wage (NLW).

In February 2016, B&Q wrote to staff advising it was increase basic pay to £7.66 from April 1st, 46p an hour more than the government’s National Living Wage which applies to employees aged 25 and over. Campaigners are calling for a figure of £8.25 an hour.

To accommodate the raise, B&Q said it would be removing Sunday and bank holiday pay premiums, adding that it would pay compensation for one year to staff members that stood to lose out on benefits and bonuses following the change.

On April 13th, following a barrage of criticism and an online campaign against the cuts by an anonymous B&Q store manager, B&Q issued a statement advising that it would extend compensation period to two years to ensure that no staff members would lose out financially. 

Speaking ahead of the AGM, McDonagh said: “I was glad that B&Q decided to extend their period of compensation for a total of 24 months. However, along with Citizens UK, I am very worried about what will happen after this period is over, and we have had no assurances from B&Q that no employees will lose out. I will be asking B&Q executives what progress they have made regarding what will happen after this compensation period is over.”

Image: Chris Warham / Shutterstock.com

Source : Insight DIY 

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