Asda is giving employees the chance to take a paid day off work to mark the coronation of King Charles on Monday, 8 May.
The supermarket giant’s hourly paid staff will be able to request the leave to take part in the Big Help Out, a national day of volunteering to encourage charity work within local communities.
All employees who want to participate can book the time off on full pay without it affecting their annual holiday entitlement, while those choosing to work on that day will receive double their regular hourly pay rate.
Asda’s chief people and corporate affairs officer, Hayley Tatum, said: “We’re proud to mark the Coronation of King Charles III by supporting the Big Help Out and enabling our colleagues to come together, celebrate and give back to their local communities.
“We understand that this is an incredibly important event for many of our colleagues, and they want to get involved, which is why we’re offering them the opportunity to take a day off to support their local area, without needing to use their holiday entitlement.
“We are also saying thank you to those colleagues who do choose to work on Monday 8 May by offering them a double time payment as a thank you for their continued efforts to serve our customers over the Bank Holiday weekend.”
Asda employees have also benefited from a pay rise this month (April), with the supermarket awarding a 10% increase in hourly rates from £10.10 to £11. Making the announcement, it said pay rates would be raised again to £11.11 an hour from 2 July as part of a £141 million investment in boosting hourly pay rates.
The retail chain also recently launched a financial wellbeing and flexible salary scheme for its more than 145,000 employees across its 600-plus store locations. Through a partnership with financial wellbeing app Wagesteam, it implemented the initiative to help employees keep track of their earnings and outgoings in real time and organise their finances more effectively.
