Tesco workers ‘given box of Quality Street instead of Christmas bonus’

Tesco employees missed out on a Christmas cash bonus last month, but some were gifted boxes of Quality Street chocolates instead, it has been reported.

In 2020, the corporation paid a generous 10 per cent bonus to its staff members and has previously given out shopping vouchers at Christmas.

However, this year some employees reported being given a Quality Street box - which costs around £5 - rather than a cash bonus for the second year running.

Tesco insisted it has never given a regular cash bonus at Christmas and this year doubled staff discount to 20 per cent during the festive period.

Tesco currently employs more than 345,000 people. In 2022, it reported a £2.03 million statutory profit before tax, making sales amounting to £54.8 billion.

Economic uncertainty has led many employers to be more conservative with Christmas bonuses. Survey data released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas in December found that more than 81 per cent of 252 employers surveyed planned to freeze the value of holiday bonuses at the same level as 2021.

Some 27 per cent of companies reported that they would not be issuing a festive bonus at all, increasing from 23 per cent in 2021.

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With the UK in the midst of a cost of living crisis, Tesco employees were less than impressed. “They’re certainly penny-pinching and trying to drive costs down”, one staff member told The Guardian, remarking that he was among those to be gifted a chocolate box.

In 2020, Tesco paid a Christmas bonus to its workers in recognition of “their exceptional effort during the peak Christmas trading period”.

“We have never given a regular cash bonus at Christmas and it is wrong to suggest that we have replaced one with chocolates”, a spokesperson for Tesco told the newspaper.

“To help colleagues with their Christmas shopping this year, we doubled our colleague discount to 20 per cent in the run-up to Christmas – one of many benefits available to our colleagues, on top of the near 8 per cent increase in base pay we invested over last year.”

Elsewhere, companies have been providing supplementary payments to help staff with the increasing cost of living. In October 2020, Amazon announced a special payment of up to £500 for its frontline workers, benefiting tens of thousands of employees.

John Lewis issued a similar £500 payment to its full-time workers, further reporting that it would increase the entry-level pay for employees by 4% as part of a £45 million support package. Notably, the organisation is owned by its employees.

Insurance and investments firm Aviva similarly issued a one-off payment to its workers, ranging from £300 to £1000 for employees earning up to £35,000.

The Independent has reached out to Tesco for further comment.