JOHN Lewis and Waitrose have confirmed staff won’t get a bonus for the first time in 67 years following the coronavirus crisis.
It comes after the retail group posted a £55million loss for the six months to July 25.
It marks the first time staff haven’t received a pay-out since 1953 following the aftermath of World War One.
The John Lewis Partnership had previously warned in January that it may have to axe the bonus.
Some 80,000 people are employed by the retail group in the UK.
The company now doesn’t expect to start paying bonuses again until its profits exceed £150million.
The staff bonus began in 1920 and was originally paid out in the form of stocks and shares in the company.
In 1970, it was converted to the cash bonus staff get today.
Bonuses in the 1970s and 1980s were as high as 24% and as recently as 2013 it was 17%.
The update comes after the group announced plans to shut eight John Lewis stores, in a move that will put 1,300 jobs at risk.
It’s also shutting four of its Waitrose supermarket stores, with the loss of 124 jobs.
Dame Sharon White, chairwoman of the retail group, told partners on Thursday that the announcement “will come as a blow”.
She said: “I said to Partners in April that I could not see the circumstances in which we would be able to pay a bonus next March.
“The Partnership Board has now confirmed that there will not be a bonus next year given our profit outlook.”
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.hellofaread.com/money/natwest-customers-missing-payments-and-unable-to-use-debit-or-credit-cards/
