Kingfisher faces staff revolt as UK retailers eye living wage loopholes

Kingfisher is facing pressure from thousands of staff at its B&Q retail chain to bring back overtime pay and benefits it is cutting to ease the cost of the new minimum wage.

A petition started by an unnamed B&Q store manager has collected more than 73,000 signatures, according to Retail Week.

The petition urges the DIY chain's boss Michael Loeve not to use the government's new 'national living wage' as an excuse to “cut pay and benefits”, including reducing overtime, removing summer and winter bonuses and restructuring London allowances.

B&Q is one of the many UK companies that is reportedly planning to do away with overtime, time-and-a-half pay for Sunday and bank holidays.

Last month, Tesco slashed pay rates for working Sundays and bank holidays, late nights and overtime hours as the supermarket giant

Wilko is another retailer to have cut some premium payments in recent months in order to raise base pay.

The living wage comes into effect on Friday, with a new £7.20 an hour minimum wage for people aged 25 and over, rising 50p relative to the current £6.70 national minimum wage rate.

The Low Pay Commission has warned that another loophole could see some employers hiring employees as “apprentices” or “self-employed” to avoid having to pay the living wage.