Sainsbury's is giving with one hand and taking away with the other in a shake-up of its pay structure that will see staff receive a 15pc basic pay rise but lose out on other remuneration.

Around 130,000 shopfloor staff across Britain will be paid £9.20 an hour, or £9.80 in London, from September of this year. The current basic hourly pay for employees is £8.

However, while basic pay will increase for the majority of staff, some will be "adversely impacted", the grocer said, as it is offsetting pay increases by axing 15 and 30-minute paid breaks, premium pay on Sundays and annual bonuses. Taking these cuts into account, the overall impact of the pay shake-up will be an 8pc increase in pay for staff.

Sainsbury's said these employees would be supported with "top-up payments" for 18 months to "ensure that no colleague earns less than they do today during this time".

The supermarket chain said it was spending £100m on improving pay, which follows three consecutive years of giving store staff a four per cent pay increase.

"Sainsbury’s will fund the pay increase through ongoing cost savings within the business," it said.

Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s' retail and operations director, said that it was "important to invest further in our colleagues so they feel rewarded and motivated to do the best possible job for our customers every day".