Amazon has been accused of slashing benefits and bonuses for UK workers to compensate for a pay increase, according to the union GMB.
The online retail giant has been accused of offsetting hourly increases to its lowest-paid workers by removing employee benefits that could cost workers around £1,500 a year.
Thousands of workers are facing the loss of employee shares and incentive schemes, which the union has labelled ‘a stealth tax on its own wage increase’.
The hourly rate for permanent and temporary staff in the UK will be raised by £1.50 to £9.50 or increased by £2.20 to £10.50 for workers in London.
Amazon was applauded for this increase, as the company had previously been criticised for its treatment of lower paid warehouse workers while making its founder, Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest man in modern history.
This praise has been retracted when it was announced Amazon were removing their employee shares scheme which currently gives each worker one share - worth around £1,500 - for each year with the company.
This means the average worker outside London would lose more than half of their new rise in hourly rate. Warehouse workers outside the capital currently earn around £17,000 per year.
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