Changes to staff contracts at Asda may result in 3,000 employees across the UK facing a pay cut, says MP Douglas Chapman.

Asda are proposing to move all hourly-paid retail staff onto new contracts that will see them earn a higher basic pay but lose their entitlement to paid breaks.

It will also shorten night shift hours from 22:00 – 06:00 to 00:00 – 05:00.

Asda is a major employer in West Fife with three large stores in the area.

In light of the news, Dunfermline and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman has signed a joint letter to Asda’s Chief Executive from MPs across the UK setting out their concerns with the proposed changes and asking him to engage constructively with the GMB trade union.

However, Asda say the proposed changes would bring the company into line with widely-known industry standards and align all Asda’s retail hourly-paid colleagues to a single contract.

Mr Chapman said: "I was disappointed to learn about the contracts put on the table by Asda for their hard-working staff, many of whom are already on low incomes.

"Offering a pay deal which could represent a pay cut to 3,000 workers is unacceptable and disregards the loyalty and commitment shown by many longstanding Asda employees.

"With two large Asda stores in Dunfermline and several others nearby, Asda is a major employer in my constituency.

"Thousands of families across West Fife are already struggling to make ends meet and any changes imposed by employers that will reduce staff’s take-home pay will only worsen this situation.

"That is why I have joined my colleagues in writing to Asda’s Chief Executive, Roger Burnley, urging him to reconsider the proposals and ensure no Asda employee receives a pay cut under the new deal."

Similar proposals have recently voted on in Northern Ireland as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

In 2017 Asda launched a new higher pay rate contract to colleagues that offered an increased pay rate of £8.50 per hour in return for greater levels of flexibility.

Over 50,000 retail colleagues are already employed on this contract, whilst others chose to remain on a variety of five other contract types already in place.

An Asda spokesperson said: "We are currently consulting with our colleagues and their representatives over a proposal to invest in an increased rate of pay and changes to terms and conditions, which would enable us to deliver better service to our customers in an intensely competitive marketplace and would make 95% of our colleagues financially better off.

"This consultation is ongoing and we will always have conversations about change with our colleagues first."