Supermarket giant Asda is to pay its workers under the age of 18 the same rate as adult staff in a move hailed as a big breakthrough by union leaders.
Around 5,000 employees aged between 16 and 18 will see their pay increase from £5.19 an hour to £5.71, at a cost of £1.7 million to the company.
Younger workers will see their take home pay rise by £300 a year because of the increase, the first of its kind announced by a supermarket.
Sarah Dickins, head of reward and recognition at Asda, said: "We simply don't see why young people under the age of 18 working in our stores should be paid any less for doing the same job as someone a bit older.
"With the new age discrimination rules, we've taken another look at all our policies and have decided we no longer think it's acceptable to have different pay rates for different age groups - you should be paid for the job you do, regardless of your age."
Jude Brimble, national officer for GMB members at Asda, said: "It has been a long-standing GMB principle that people should be paid the rate for the job they do, regardless of age, so this is a very important breakthrough at Asda for young workers.
"GMB welcomes this and consider that the Low Pay Commission should follow suit and recommend that this becomes the law of the land."
