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Phelan Riessen

Tesco will axe Christmas bonuses for thousands of Irish staff this year

The grocery giant has decided to play the Grinch with its workers.

TESCO WILL DROP its annual Christmas bonus for thousands of Irish staff this year after blaming “competitive market conditions” for the move.

In recent years rank-and-file workers have received payouts worth about €250 each, but the embattled grocer has decided to axe its “share bonus scheme” this year for everyone except its longest-standing employees.

The system offered staff the choice of an annual bonus in either cash, company shares or a mixture of the two, but TheJournal.ie understands that thousands of staff who have joined the company in the last decade will be excluded from this year’s payment.

Workers were only given the notification over the past few days and the news hasn’t gone down well amid the huge sums paid to its top executives in recent months.

Some staff still in line for bonuses are said to be refusing the payments in protest over their colleagues being left out of the deal.

A Tesco Ireland spokeswoman said the company’s performance was reviewed each year before it made a decision on whether or not to pay bonuses.

Due to competitive market conditions and the performance of the Irish business, Tesco Ireland has made the decision to declare a 0% share bonus to colleagues this year,” she said. ”This effects (sic) all colleagues except for those who are covered by historic collective agreements.”

Tesco results Andrew Milligan / PA Wire Andrew Milligan / PA Wire / PA Wire

High returns for top execs

Meanwhile, Tesco’s latest annual report showed the retailer’s incoming CEO, Dave Lewis, was paid £4.1 million (€5.7 million) for his first six months at the company – the bulk of which was in share options.

The company’s former CEO, Philip Clarke, was entitled to a termination payment of £1.2 million (€1.67 million), on top of salary and benefits worth £764,000 (€1 million) for the six months he served in the job.

Clarke was at the helm of Tesco during the period in which it has since been revealed the company overstated its profits to the tune of £263 million.

Tesco recently introduced a bonus “clawback” rule for all its senior executives, including several of its top Irish bosses, which allows the company to recall cash payments up to three years after they have been paid if managers are found to have misstated financial results or hurt its reputation.

Lewis Tesco CEO Dave Lewis YouTube / Tesco PLC YouTube / Tesco PLC / Tesco PLC

Last month it announced its biggest-ever loss – a staggering £6.375 billion (€9.37 billion) last financial – thanks to a huge write-down of its Chinese assets. However, the company’s trading profit, which doesn’t include the paper charge, was still a healthy £1.39 billion.

Tesco doesn’t report profits for its Irish division, but its revenue for the territory last financial year took the greatest plunge of any region in which it operates.

The income figure was down 6.4% to €2.55 billion for the 12 months and it has unveiled plans to cut 90 night staff on top of job losses in its head office.

Grinch Animated GIF Giphy Giphy

READ: Most of Ireland’s biggest companies aren’t Irish at all >

READ: The Dunnes Stores strike hasn’t stopped people shopping there >

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    Mute Forest Hump
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    Jan 15th 2020, 8:04 AM

    This feels like a co-ordinated attack, Bernie is beginning to grow in the poles

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    Mute Anne Marie Devlin
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    Jan 15th 2020, 8:28 AM

    @Forest Hump: I’ve been following the ‘liberal’ US press and they have definitely ramped up the anti Sanders pro Biden rhetoric in the past few weeks. Pushing strongly for Biden/Buttigieg.

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    Mute DBennie
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    Jan 15th 2020, 9:12 AM

    @Forest Hump: Bernie will win the whole thing. Watch this space.

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    Mute WreckDefier
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    Jan 15th 2020, 9:29 AM

    @DBennie: ….and pigs will fly

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    Mute Phil Schueler
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    Jan 15th 2020, 4:42 PM

    @Forest Hump: You got it, man! It’s total anti-Progressive bullshit! At least someone is paying attention.

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    Mute Raven
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    Jan 15th 2020, 4:49 PM

    @Forest Hump:
    Guess you missed this piece of investigate journalism, along with the Journal.
    https://twitter.com/RedRaven1776/status/1217488312161701889?s=09

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    Mute MiseBean
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    Jan 15th 2020, 7:35 AM

    Are there any younger politicians with ability & ambition in the USA.

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    Mute Dom Layzell
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    Jan 15th 2020, 7:37 AM

    @MiseBean: Young Donald Trump?

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    Mute Al Fresco
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    Jan 15th 2020, 7:45 AM

    @MiseBean: he might be ambitious but he has neither youth or ability going for him, he is 73.

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    Mute thomas patrick
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    Jan 15th 2020, 8:00 AM

    @MiseBean: like Tulsi Gabbard?

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    Mute Aidan
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    Jan 15th 2020, 8:40 AM

    @MiseBean: AOC?

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    Mute colm connolly
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    Jan 15th 2020, 8:53 AM

    @Al Fresco: pretty sure he meant junior

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    Mute Al Fresco
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    Jan 15th 2020, 9:52 AM

    @colm connolly: that’s not what he said.

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    Mute Shannon Cassidy
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    Jan 15th 2020, 10:34 AM

    @MiseBean: tulsi gabbard. But she wasn’t included in last night’s debate

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    Mute Phil Schueler
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    Jan 15th 2020, 4:43 PM

    @Al Fresco: That does not matter one iota. Sorry.

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    Mute A2 Poster
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    Jan 15th 2020, 10:07 AM

    This is low. Bernie is a socialist and a core concept of that is equality. No-one believes he’s a sexist based on a 30 year old sound bite. This will backfire on her.

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    Mute Cormac Flanagan
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    Jan 15th 2020, 10:48 AM

    @A2 Poster: buts it’s not for warren to gain voters it’s for Sanders to lose them so Biden can win. Sanders not a democrat so DNC don’t want him to win. Even though he’s prob the only one of Biden/Warren/Sanders that can beat Trump.

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    Mute Aidan
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    Jan 15th 2020, 3:54 PM

    @Cormac Flanagan: how is he not a Democrat?

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    Mute Phil Schueler
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    Jan 15th 2020, 4:41 PM

    @A2 Poster: Dude! This is a bullshit story!

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    Mute Alan McDonald
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    Jan 15th 2020, 1:05 PM

    So this conversation happened some time ago and now she won’t shake hands?

    She took his help and now is throwing him under the bus. Nice.

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    Mute Phil Schueler
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    Jan 15th 2020, 4:44 PM

    @Alan McDonald: Nah, dude this is an over-exaggerates BS story.

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    Mute MG
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    Jan 15th 2020, 3:21 PM

    Why is it sexist to say a woman “couldn’t” be elected? Replace that with “shouldn’t” and it would be sexist.

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    Mute Raymond Dennehy
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    Jan 15th 2020, 2:15 PM

    Democrats will make life easier for Humpty Trumpty. Should have been Sanders last time round but I fear his age will come against him this time.

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    Mute Phil Schueler
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    Jan 15th 2020, 4:40 PM

    Wow! Great work buying into a bullshit, anti-Sanders story!
    Nice ‘journalism!’ Who are you working for really??? CNN?!

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    Mute seanfean
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    Jan 16th 2020, 10:03 AM

    So its men against women now. Bottom of the barrel stuff their lads, debate the real issues. Bernie is the man…uh…person. Wish we had someone like that here to vote for come February.

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