B&Q has responded to an anonymous B&Q manager who set up a petition protesting against the company’s change in salary structures to accommodate the national living wage.

The National Living Wage means every worker over the age of 25 must be paid at least £7.20 per hour. B&Q itself has brought in a minimum rate of £7.66, and is also paying this to staff under the age of 25 who are not entitled to the living wage under the current law.

The company has also retained its performance bonus, and still offers 14% employer contribution to the pension - far above than the statutory minimum.
The petition ‘Don't use living wage as excuse to cut pay & benefits'was started in February and currently has 133,000 signatures.

A B&Q spokesperson said in a statement: "We understand and are sorry that some of our colleagues feel upset by the changes. This has been a difficult decision for us and our aim has always been to reward all of our people fairly so that employees who are doing the same job receive the same pay. That wasn't the case as, for a long time, some had been being paid different allowances and that couldn't continue."

The company added: “No-one's base pay is being reduced at all, and we are paying compensation so no one's bonus or benefits will be reduced in the first twelve months. We are also committed to reviewing the position in twelve months' time to ensure we remain one of the best payers in retail and can attract and retain the best people. During that time, we will gather all the feedback, evaluate what changes to make for 1 April 2017 and will be engaging with the B&Q People Forum and our employees more widely.

"Our rewards package remains one of the best in retail and this year, we will be paying more than we did last year."

"B&Q is one of the most knowledge based retailers,” Kevin Smith said in response to B&Q’s statement. “Customers need support from product application to project advice. Every store has members of the team that offer that level of advice to customers and those people are generally the ones that have been with the business the longest. Now they are paid the same as everyone else.”

“The company's claim about being one of the best paid retailers in the industry seams a facade given the amount of people who will take a net pay cut as a result of the living wage. What about loyalty to those in the business 10 or 20 years? I acknowledge the one-off payment to staff affected but what do they do after that money is gone?"