Royal Bank of Scotland owner NatWest has offered more then 90 per cent of its 41,500 staff in the UK a pay rise and one-off cash sum to help them cope with soaring prices.
If approved by workers, 39,000 staff on lower pay bands will receive a minimum £2,000 salary increase and a one-off sum of £1,000 to be paid in January. Salary increases would take effect from April 1, and come after an unscheduled 4% pay rise in September for those earning less than £32,000 a year.
Staff based overseas will receive the local cash equivalent of the £1,000 lump sum, taking the total number benefitting from this to approximately 59,000.
READ MORE: Royal Bank of Scotland owner hit by economic headwinds
The move comes after more than 5,000 workers signed a Unite petition calling for all workers to be awarded a pay rise. That was triggered by anger over the September increase, in which nearly half of staff got nothing.
NatWest chief executive Alison Rose said the group is "committed to paying our colleagues fairly" during these difficult economic times.
"I’m pleased that we have proposed a package which builds on the measures announced earlier in the year, and that is supported by our employee representatives," she said. "We are also acutely aware of the challenges being faced by the customers and communities we serve and continue to put in place measures that will help those who need it most.”
READ MORE: Shares slide in Royal Bank owner following cost-of-living warning
The bank said it is further proposing an increase in its minimum salary from £20,500 to £22,000. This would be the second increase in minimum salary since April, when it was £19,000.
NatWest said the cumulative effect of pay increases and the one-off bonus means 95% of lower paid colleagues, some 22,500 people, will receive an increase equivalent to 8% or more of their fixed pay. Eighty per cent of lower paid colleagues, about 19,000 people, will receive an increase of 10% or more.
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