All Boots employees are now on or above the national living wage, the chain has confirmed.

From April 1, all employees 25 years and over must be paid the national living wage, which is £7.20 per hour. This is 50p higher than the minimum wage for 21-24-year-olds, and £1.90 higher than required for 18-20-year-olds.

The majority of Boots employees were already on or above the national living wage before April 1, but all hourly-paid workers joining the company will now be receive the same base rate of pay, regardless of their age, the health and beauty giant told C+D last week (April 12).

Starting rates for customer assistants

The base starting rate for a Boots customer assistant aged under 25 working outside London is now £7.70 per hour – a 7% increase on the legal requirement – the chain told C+D. This figure rises to £9.07 for those working in London, it added.

In February, Boots told C+D its 40,000 hourly-paid staff would receive an average pay increase of 5.8% from April. 

Dispensing assistants now receive at least 20p extra per hour, while those taking on the newly-created pharmacy advisor role receive an extra 50p per hour, Boots said at the time.

Well confirmed earlier this month that it will increase wages for 4,500 of its employees. The starting rate for healthcare assistants will rise to £7.38 per hour, while this figure will be £7.33 per hour for delivery drivers, it said.

NB. Boots supplied this information to C+D before the Guardian published allegations regarding how the company sets MUR "targets" for its pharmacists

Do you know of any pharmacy staff who aren't paid the national living wage? 

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