Payday nerves meet supermarket rivalry as a tiny tweak lands next week and could ripple through tills and timecards alike.
From Sunday 1 September, Aldi will lift its base store pay to £13.02 an hour, edging Lidl’s new £13 rate by 2p. The discounter also keeps paid breaks on the table and lifts the rate to £13.95 with length of service, reinforcing a year of wage moves and store expansion.
What is the 2p rule
Aldi has quietly created a new benchmark: a 2p premium on the entry rate for store assistants compared with its closest discount rival. The change slightly tops a July pledge to move to £13.00, and follows Lidl’s rise from £12.75 to £13.00. The move matters because it sets the floor in one of Britain’s fiercest pay races.
Base store rate: £13.02 an hour from 1 September.
Length-of-service rate: £13.95 an hour.
Only major food retailer offering paid breaks, worth about £1,425 a year.
Why 2p matters on a payslip
Two pence sounds tiny. Over a year, it builds into real money. The effect depends on contracted hours, overtime and bank holidays.
- 16 hours a week: roughly £16.64 extra a year (16 × 52 × £0.02).
- 25 hours a week: roughly £26.00 extra a year.
- 30 hours a week: roughly £31.20 extra a year.
- 40 hours a week: roughly £41.60 extra a year.
The headline is not the 2p alone. The paid-breaks policy, which Aldi values at about £1,425 a year for an average store colleague, dwarfs the incremental 2p. Spread across, say, 25 to 30 working hours a week, those paid minutes can lift effective take-home value by around £0.90 to £1.10 per working hour. That is where staff feel the difference across a month.
How the new rates compare
Lidl confirmed its £13.00 minimum from September after a rise from £12.75. Aldi now nudges above that. Both discounters continue to pull the mainstream grocers into a higher wage band, especially outside London.
| Employer | Entry hourly rate (from 1 Sept) | Length of service uplift | Paid breaks | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldi | £13.02 | £13.95 | Yes | Second rise in 2025; positions itself as sector leader on pay. |
| Lidl | £13.00 | Not stated | Not stated | Announced mid-August; uplift arrives in September. |
Aldi repeats a clear promise: stay ahead on entry pay while keeping paid breaks — an unusual benefit on the high street.
Where the rise lands first
Aldi says hourly paid store colleagues in Merseyside receive the uplift from next week. The company presents £13.02 as its new minimum for store assistants, with £13.95 after length of service. The change marks the second pay increase of the year, reinforcing its wage lead during a broader hiring drive for both part-time and full-time roles.
Paid breaks: the quiet £1,425 boost
Most retailers do not pay for breaks. Aldi does, and the chain estimates the value at about £1,425 a year for an average store colleague. That figure can outweigh much bigger headline differences in hourly rates between supermarkets. Staff who clock regular shifts keep earning during rest periods, which lifts weekly pay without extra minutes at the till.
For a rough sense check, £1,425 spread over 52 weeks equates to about £27.40 a week. Against a 25-hour contract, that sits near £1.10 per working hour. Staff on higher hours see the value spread thinner per hour, but the cash total remains the same over the year.
New stores and jobs in the pipeline
The pay move lands as Aldi pushes expansion and refurbishment. The chain points to a £650m programme for its store estate this year, with 35 sites due a refit and 23 new stores planned. Ten of those new sites are already named, stretching from London to the North East and Wales.
- Fulham Broadway
- Shoreditch
- Eastbourne, East Sussex
- Waterbrook, Kent
- Langley Moor Meadowfield, Durham
- Deeside and Treharris, Wales
- Market Harborough, Leicestershire
- Tyne and Wear
- Pendle Drive, Sefton, Liverpool
- Chesterfield
More sites will follow as projects clear planning and fit-out timetables. New openings normally trigger local recruitment waves for store assistants, deputy managers and logistics support.
What this could mean for shoppers
Wage increases raise operating costs, but discounters typically push productivity gains and tightly manage ranges to keep prices sharp. Aldi has not signalled price adjustments tied to the pay change. The chain continues to lean on high volumes, a slimmed-down SKU count and aggressive private-label pricing to defend its value pitch.
Shoppers are unlikely to see a visible “2p rule” on shelf labels. The impact sits behind the scenes, where staff retention and experience can shorten queues, tidy aisles faster and keep availability high — all factors that can matter more to a weekly shop than a fraction of a penny on labour cost per item.
Your next steps if you work in store
Staff expecting the new rate should prepare for the switch on Sunday.
- Check your rota and clocking app to confirm shift times around the changeover.
- Review your September payslip to ensure the base rate shows £13.02 (or £13.95 if you qualify for the service uplift).
- Keep an eye on paid breaks recorded; this policy boosts your weekly pay even if hours stay the same.
- Raise any discrepancies promptly with your store manager or payroll support.
What the numbers look like in practice
Take a 30-hour contract. At £13.02, weekly base pay lands near £390.60 before any premiums. If you qualify for paid breaks, your weekly take-home rises further without added time on the shop floor. Over 52 weeks, that combination can outpace a straight hourly rate elsewhere, even when the headline number only differs by pennies.
For staff moving onto the £13.95 length-of-service rate, the gap widens. A 30-hour week at £13.95 sits near £418.50 before premiums, a difference of almost £28 a week compared with the new entry rate. That step reflects the value Aldi places on experience and retention within its stores.
From 1 September, the pay landscape shifts by pennies — and, thanks to paid breaks, by pounds. Staff feel both.
Paid breaks worth about £1,425 a year is the real headline—good on Aldi for valuing time to breathe. If queues get shorter because retention improves, I’m in.
So my bill goes up by… what, 0.0001p per tin of beans? maths is hard, but this is probly noise vs the paid-breaks bit.