JD Sports, M&S and Sainsbury's to face shareholder pressure over low pay
Major high street retailers are set to face pressure from shareholders over low pay in their workforce, including third-party contractors.
ShareAction, which campaigns for responsible investment, has put forward resolutions on the issue, which will be voted on by shareholders at M&S and JD Sports' annual general meetings (AGMs) on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
While the group is not filing a resolution at Sainsbury's, shareholders will directly question the board about pay transparency at the supermarket's AGM on Thursday.
The companies are facing questions over wages that do not meet the 'real living wage' of £12.60 per hour nationally and £13.85 per hour in London for those aged 21 and over.
These wages, which are set by the Living Wage Foundation to reflect the true cost of living, exceed the 2025/26 legal minimum wage of £12.21 set for the whole country including London.
ShareAction argues the real living wage boosts stability, productivity and brand value, and has long been campaigning on the issue across the retail sector.
Catherine Howarth, chief executive at ShareAction, said: 'We urge investors to support the shareholder resolutions going to a vote at the AGMs of M&S and JD Sports.
'Votes in support will endorse good governance and risk management whilst recognising the workers who keep these businesses running.'
The resolutions ask M&S and JD Sports to disclose information on the number of employees earning below the real living wage and staff turnover rates as well their approach to setting base pay for contracted staff and a cost/benefit analysis of setting the real living wage across their workforce.
While M&S pays direct employees at least the real living wage, it argues that third-party contractors are independent and set their own pay.
M&S's board is recommending shareholders oppose the resolution, citing its recent investments in employee compensation of more than £285 million since 2022 and an increase to the standard hourly rate by more than 26%.
On third-party contractors, it also said the vast majority of colleagues are paid at or above the real living wage.
At the AGM, M&S could also be questioned about the major cyber attack it suffered earlier this year, which halted website orders, disrupted contactless payments, left some shelves empty and saw personal customer data taken by hackers.
The company said the incident is likely to drag its group operating profits down by around £300 million this year but it expects this to be reduced through cost management, insurance and other reactions.
For JD Sports, the activists argue that the firm only guarantees the legal minimum wage and lacks transparency on contractor pay.
The board has advised shareholders to vote against the proposals, saying the firm complies with legal requirements and has invested more than £75 million over the last three years in removing the age banding as well as enhancing the remuneration and benefits of lowest-paid workers.
Further reporting adds no value, reduces flexibility, raises costs and may harm competitiveness, the retailer said.
Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), which is Europe's largest independent shareholder advisory consultancy, is supporting the resolution at both companies' AGMs.
PIRC said that while M&S has made progress on pay, there is still room to improve in formally committing to wage standards and increasing transparency for contractor pay.
For JD Sports, the consultancy argues that legal compliance is not best practice and that pay transparency is needed to assess risks and resilience.
It follows an identical resolution filed at Next in May, which gained the support of over a quarter of shareholders.
While not legally binding, support for shareholder resolutions can put pressure on business leaders to respond to the matters raised, and more than 20% of dissent against the board can be considered a rebellion.
During Sainbury's AGM, shareholders plan to stand up and ask the board to commit to disclosing the composition and pay of their workforce, employee turnover, and the feasibility of paying the real living wage for all staff, including all third-party contractors.
An M&S spokesperson said: 'In addition to paying the real living wage, we offer an industry-leading range of benefits which, when taken with hourly pay, is worth up to £15.40 an hour.
'In regards to on-site third party contractors, which we use for specialist roles and to support the inherent seasonality in retail, a vast proportion of colleagues are paid at or above the real living wage and we go to great lengths to ensure they are all treated as part of the M&S family.
'While we support and act on the principle that all M&S-related colleagues should be paid well, we do not believe it is right to divest responsibility for setting pay and benefits away from businesses and their shareholders to a third party, as ShareAction would propose.'
A JD Group spokesperson said: 'Our highly competitive UK colleague package is specifically designed to address the needs of our predominantly young workforce.
'We remain committed to providing fair wages and acting in the best interests of all stakeholders and have been engaging with shareholders ahead of our AGM on July 2 to outline our holistic approach to reward and benefits and are grateful for their supportive response.
'We are proud of our role as one of the UK's largest employers of young people, often giving them their first jobs and teaching them skills and disciplines that stand them in good stead for the rest of their working lives, including long-term opportunities with JD.'
The PA news agency has contacted Sainsbury's for comment.
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