The main High Street retailers are ready to face the pressure of shareholders for low salaries in their workforce, including third -party contractors.
Shareaction, which campaigns for responsible investment, has presented resolutions on the subject, which will be voted by the shareholders of the annual general meetings (AGM) of M&S and JD Sports on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
While the group is not presenting a resolution in Sainsbury's, shareholders will directly question the Board about salary transparency in the agm of the supermarket on Thursday.
Companies face questions about salaries that do not meet the “real real salary” of £ 12.60 per hour nationwide and £ 13.85 per hour in London for those of 21 years or more.
These salaries, which are established by the Living Foundation to reflect the true cost of living, exceed the legal minimum wage 2025/26 of £ 12.21 for the entire country, including London.
Shareaction argues that the true worthy salary increases the stability, productivity and value of the brand, and for a long time has been campaigning on the subject throughout the retail sector.
Catherine Howarth, executive director of Shareaction, said: “We urge investors to support the resolutions of the shareholders who vote in the AGM of M&S and JD Sports.
“The votes in support will support good governance and risk management while recognizing workers who keep these businesses in operation.”
The resolutions ask M&S and JD Sports to disclose information on the number of employees who earn below the real salary and staff rotation rates, as well as their approach to establish the base payment for the contracted personnel and a cost/benefit analysis of establishing the real vital salary in their workforce.
While M&S pays direct employees at least to the real decent salary, he argues that third -party contractors are independent and establish their own salary.
The M&S Board recommends that shareholders oppose the resolution, citing their recent investments in compensation of employees of more than 285 million since 2022 and an increase in the rate per standard hour by more than 26%.
In third -party contractors, he also said that the vast majority of colleagues are paid at or above the real decent salary.
In the AGM, M&S could also be interrogated about the main cyber attack he suffered earlier this year, which stopped the orders of the website, interrupted contactless payments, left some empty shelves and saw personal data of customers taken by computer pirates.
The company said it is likely that the incident drags its group operational profits in around 300 million this year, but expects this to be reduced through cost management, insurance and other reactions.
For JD Sports, activists argue that the company only guarantees the legal minimum wage and lacks transparency in the contractor's payment.
The Board has advised shareholders to vote against the proposals, saying that the company meets the legal requirements and has invested more than 75 million in the last three years to eliminate age bands, as well as improve the remuneration and benefits of workers with less payments.
Other reports do not add value, reduce flexibility, increase costs and can damage competitiveness, said the retailer.
Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), which is the most large independent shareholder advice consultant in Europe, supports the resolution in the AGM of both companies.
Pirc said that while M&S has progressed in payment, there is still room to formally improve salary standards and increase transparency for the contractor's payment.
For JD Sports, the consultancy argues that legal compliance is not the best practice and that salary transparency is needed to evaluate risks and resilience.
It follows an identical resolution presented in the next in May, which obtained the support of more than a quarter of the shareholders.
Although it is not legally binding, support for shareholders resolutions can press business leaders to respond to the issues raised, and more than 20% of the dissent against the Board can be considered a rebellion.
During the AGM of Sainbury, shareholders plan to stand up and ask the Board to commit to reveal the composition and payment of their workforce, employee billing and the viability of paying the real vital salary for all personnel, including all third -party contractors.
An M&S spokesman said: “In addition to paying the real decent salary, we offer a range of leading benefits in the industry that, when taken with salary per hour, are worth up to £ 15.40 per hour.
“With regard to third -party contractors on the site, which we use for specialized roles and to support the seasonality inherent in retail trade, a large proportion of colleagues are paid in or above the real decent salary and we do everything possible to ensure that everyone is treated as part of the M&S family.
“While we support and act according to the principle that all colleagues related to M&S must be paid well, we do not believe it is correct to disinception the responsibility of establishing the salary and benefits of companies and their shareholders to a third party, such as the Shareaction would propose.”
A JD group spokesman said: “Our highly competitive colleague's colleague package of the United Kingdom is specifically designed to address the needs of our predominantly young workforce.
“We are still committed to providing fair wages and acting in the best interest of all interested parties and we have been involved with the shareholders before our AGM on July 2 to describe our holistic approach to the reward and benefits and are grateful for their support response.
“We are proud of our role as one of the largest youth employers in the United Kingdom, often providing their first jobs and teaching them skills and disciplines that keep them in good condition for the rest of their work lives, including long -term opportunities with JD.”
The PA news agency has contacted Sainsbury's to comment.
