Supermarket Albert – illustration photo.
Prague – Food chains in the Czech Republic are raising wages for their employees this year, Lidl, Penny Market and Albert stores should do so from March 1, ČTK reported. Kaufland plans to raise salaries this year from September, which will affect employees in operational areas such as sales assistants or cashiers, spokeswoman Renata Maierl said. ČTK is investigating the opinions of other food chains.
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After including inflation, the real wage in the Czech Republic fell by 9.8 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of last year. Nominally, according to the Czech Statistical Office, the average wage increased by 6.1 percent to 39,858 crowns, but inflation grew faster. In general, two-thirds of employees do not reach the average wage. The median, i.e. the middle value of wages, increased by 6.5 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022, reaching 37,530 crowns for men and 32,171 crowns for women.
In Lidl, the starting salary for the position of sales assistant and cashier will rise to 30,700 crowns for a full-time position, and after three years of work, it will be 33,000 crowns. The starting salary for the same positions of employees in Prague will be 33,300 crowns, after three years the base will increase to 36,600 crowns, the company said. According to her, the wages of general partners in logistics centers will also increase. With full-time employment, their basic salary will be 39,467 crowns, after three years 43,467 crowns. The company will increase the meal allowance from 55 crowns to 100 crowns, it announced today in a press release. Lidl states that it has over 290 stores in the Czech Republic and employs more than 12,000 people.
Salaries for cashiers at the Penny chain will rise by around 7.5 percent from March. The starting full-time salary will increase by 2,000 crowns to 28,000 crowns, after four years of work, this base will amount to 30,000 crowns, the company informed. Workers in logistics and at the company headquarters will also have 7.5 percent higher wages. Salaries for store managers and their representatives will increase by 12.5 percent from March, as part of their quarterly bonuses will be transferred to their monthly pay, Penny added. “At the same time, the value of the meal ticket per day is increasing to 100 crowns,” the company said. For January and February, it will then pay its employees bonuses in the amount of four percent of the monthly salary. The company has over 400 stores in the Czech Republic and employs more than 6,000 people.
On average, Albert employees will receive a tenth higher salary starting next month. This will apply to cashiers, sales assistants, storekeepers, bakers, fruit and vegetable workers, store managers and their representatives, the company added. According to her, the minimum guaranteed increase will be eight percent. The company says it has more than 330 stores and employs up to 20,000 people in various capacities. According to the annual report, in 2021 it employed an average of approximately 10,700 workers.
At Kaufland, from September of this year, employees in operational areas will improve by an average of 3,000 crowns per month, the chain informed. From March, the employer's contribution to employees entitled to a meal plan will increase from 44 to 60 crowns per shift, the company added. Kaufland employs over 11,000 people in the Czech Republic and operates 137 stores.
