Aldi pay rise 2026: UK staff get March bump and longer maternity pay, Ireland hits €15.40 living wage

London, Jan 15, 2026, 09:38 GMT

• Aldi UK is raising its starting hourly wage to £13.35 starting March 1 and will increase full-pay maternity leave to 26 weeks.
• Starting Feb. 1, Aldi Ireland will increase hourly wages by 2%, maintaining its minimum pay at the updated €15.40 living wage standard.
• These changes arrive ahead of the UK minimum wage hike in April, with wage growth remaining a key concern for policymakers.

Aldi announced it will increase pay for tens of thousands of UK workers starting in March and boost hourly rates for employees in Ireland from February, intensifying its wage and benefits investment amid fierce competition for staff.

Timing is crucial. In April, Britain’s legal minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over increases, and grocers are raising pay to compete for staff—despite shoppers still watching their budgets closely.

The Bank of England is keeping a close eye on wage settlements to assess if inflationary pressures are easing enough to justify further interest rate cuts. According to a recent official reading cited by the company’s UK arm, UK headline inflation dropped to 3.2% in November.

In the UK, Aldi announced a 33 pence boost to starting pay for store assistants, raising the rate to £13.35 an hour nationwide from March 1. Inside the M25 around London, the starting wage will be higher at £14.71. The supermarket is pouring £36 million into pay and benefits, including extending full maternity pay to 26 weeks. “That’s why we’re making such a significant investment in our promise to never be beaten on pay for our colleagues,” said Giles Hurley, Aldi UK and Ireland’s chief executive. 1

Aldi UK, the country’s fourth-biggest grocer behind Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Asda, announced its March pay increase pushes the year-on-year rise for hourly workers to 4.7%. 2

In Ireland, Aldi announced a 2% pay bump for all hourly workers starting Feb. 1, following its 2026 wage review. The company set the minimum base pay across stores and warehouses at €15.40 an hour, with annual raises pushing that figure up to €17.75 after one, two, and three years on the job. 3

Aldi’s Irish pay hike links to the “Living Wage” — a suggested, non-mandatory rate set by the Living Wage Technical Group — not the legal minimum wage. The company said it is putting around €5.5 million into the review, covering auto-enrolment pension contributions, and noted this is the eighth consecutive year it has matched or surpassed the living wage rate.

“As always, our focus remains squarely on our customers and colleagues,” Aldi Ireland country managing director Niall O’Connor said in a comment on a company post. He confirmed that Aldi will continue to pay the €15.40 living wage “at a minimum” for the second year running. 4

That said, these pay hikes aren’t without risks. Rising labour costs could tighten margins for food retailers already grappling with intense price wars. Some UK employers have also flagged concerns that quicker minimum wage hikes might push prices up.