WORKERS would be set for a windfall of up to £1,200 a year if British bosses were required to share profits with staff, MPs heard yesterday.

Labour MP Gareth Thomas revealed the potential pay boost as he brought forward a Bill calling for the introduction of a mandatory French-style profit sharing scheme.

Workers at Sports Direct, where working conditions have been likened to the gulag by the Unite union, would pocket £507 if director Mike Ashley was made to share as little as 5 per cent of the company’s £180 million profit.

Sainsbury’s staff would take home an extra £397, while workers at privatised telecoms giant BT stood to take home the biggest sum at £1,200 a year.

The Bill, which a Populus poll showed is backed by three-quarters of voters, would boost the incomes of eight million workers at 3,000 companies if it became law.

Mr Thomas insisted the system would not be a burden on business, but would better reward the collective hard work required for any business to succeed.

“If you work hard for a company, help it succeed and make a profit, then surely the owners should share a little of those profits with you and other employees,” he said.

The MP pointed out that productivity in France, where the scheme is already in place, is almost twice that of Britain, despite workers here working longer average hours.

Co-operative Party chairman Mr Thomas also called for the government to legislate for worker representation on company boards and the renumeration committees that set bosses’ pay.

The Bill is due to receive a second reading in March, though it is unlikely to make it through Parliament despite the support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.