ASDA pays out £15m bonus to 104,000 staff

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on February 23, 2004

ASDA pays out £15m bonus to 104,000 staff

The UK supermarket chain, ASDA, has awarded almost 104,000 employees their fair share of a £15 million company-wide annual bonus, representing an average bonus of £228.73 per employee, and taking the total staff bonus over four years to almost £50 million.

ASDA became part of the Wal-Mart All-Colleague Bonus Scheme in 2000. The success and scale of the scheme has kept pace with the company's performance over the past four years; despite having only 265 stores - hundreds less than its major competitors - ASDA is now recognised as Britain's second biggest supermarket (based on turnover data).

The happiest place One of the supermarket's key policies is that it is meant to be 'the happiest place to work'. To that end, employees at stores that achieved the 100% bonus level took home an extra £250 in their pay packet last week, although many actually earned more. For the second year running, employees outperforming their store targets earned up to 120% of their annual bonus, meaning that some took home as much as £300 in total.

All stores qualified for at least a 20% bonus payout. This year 109 stores achieved up to 100% bonus while 156 stores reached the 'SuperBonus'. Employees qualify for the bonus scheme after six months of service, and the annual bonus is paid on a pro-rata basis for those who haven't yet been with the company a whole year. Time off for all types of extended absence (including career breaks, maternity leave, and extended holidays) does affect the final amount paid.

Other benefits The bonus scheme is part of a package of benefits that has put ASDA in the top 10 of the Sunday Times 'Best Companies to Work For' list for the past three years. Apart from the annual bonus payment, employees also have access to a 'ShareSave' scheme, and free shares through a Colleague Share Ownership Plan. In fact, some 93,000 employees across the business now hold Wal-Mart shares and the latest payout, in June 2003, saw 17,000 employees receive a total of over £30 million worth of shares. And, under the share ownership plan, newly qualified employees who have completed their first year of service also receive free options equivalent to 25% of their salary. ASDA says that both schemes will also make payouts during 2004.

"Last year ASDA became Britain's second biggest supermarket thanks to the dedication and hard work of our colleagues," said Tony DeNunzio, ASDA's president and CEO. "We think the best way to celebrate our success is to share it with all the colleagues who helped make it happen."

More Info: 

http://www.asda.co.uk