• Campaign groups will call for B&Q staff to receive an independently verified living wage.
  • The retailer will face pressure from campaign groups over its pay practices at parent company Kingfisher’s annual shareholder meeting.
  • The ongoing campaign is also expected to target Marks & Spencer and Tesco over pay practices.

DIY firm’s parent company will be asked at today’s annual shareholder meeting to reverse cuts to B&Q staff benefits made earlier this year.

B&Q owner Kingsfisher is set to face further scrutiny over changes to the DIY company’s pay and employee benefits from campaign groups and Labour MP Siobhan McDonagh, according to the Guardian.

McDonagh is set to ask the Kingfisher board to pay B&Q employees an independently verified living wage as part of an ongoing campaign backed by ShareAction and Citizens UK.

Other retailers including Marks & Spencer and Tesco are also expected to be targeted as part of the ongoing campaign, which saw campaigners attend retailer’s annual shareholder meetings to demand increased pay for staff.

B&Q faced a backlash when it announced it would reduce overtime pay and bonuses for some staff in February, leading to a petition started by an anonymous member of B&Q staff reaching 136,000 signatures.

The DIY retailer, which has introduced a basic pay rate of £7.66 in April, has said that it will compensate staff who have been hit by its new pay and reward structure for two years.

McDonagh said: “I was glad that B&Q decided to extend their period of compensation for a total of 24 months.

“However, along with Citizens UK, I am very worried about what will happen after this period is over, and we have had no assurances from B&Q that no employees will lose out. I will be asking B&Q executives what progress they have made regarding what will happen after this compensation period is over.”

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