Lidl in Portugal is leading the way by raising the starting wage for full time staff to €600 a month next year, a rise of over 5% and one that highlights the national minimum wage of €505 pcm as somewhat less than adequate.
The German-owned supermarket’s statement today shows the Portuguese minimum wage is set too low and Lidl management talked of its “strong social responsibility policy that is an integral part of the company’s strategy.”
The pay rise to €600 pcm will affect all of those in their first year at any of Lidl’s 240 Portuguese stores and will kick in on January 1st, 2016.
The new Socialist government plans to raise the minimum wage in Portugal to €530 gross, a sum which those in receipt of say is not sufficient for basic needs in this day and age. Business leaders are of course resisting this rise as it is their companies that will have to pay it.
Lidl has been in Portugal for twenty years and to celebrate, its managers have handed out Lidl vouchers for €400 to each of its 4,800 staff members in a €1.9 million give away.
“Our human resources are our greatest capital and we want staff to know that they can count on the company,” said Lidl Portugal’s director, Afroditi Pampa (pictured below).
Pampa became managing Director of Lidl Portugal in July 2014 after ten years with the company working in Germany and Greece before coming to Portugal.
