Guest contributor: Borough Care (Written 7 September 2021) 

What is the Living Wage?

The real Living Wage is a wage rate that takes the average cost of living in the UK into consideration. This wage rate is £9.50 an hour and £10.85 an hour for those living in London. 

Introduced by Citizens UK in 2001, the Living Wage Foundation has been campaigning for fairer wages ever since. Their campaigning has since resulted in 250,000 people receiving the pay rises they deserve. 

Many businesses you’d be familiar with are accredited Living Wage employers - including  Google, Everton FC, and Nationwide.

How does the Living Wage benefit employees?

According to the Living Wage Foundation, more than 3.5 million people are in low paid, insecure work. Whilst money ‘doesn’t buy happiness’, it buys security, freedom and less stress. Being able to live within your means allows you to experience life in a completely different way than someone struggling to make ends meet. Some examples of how people benefit from higher wages are:

• Not worrying about how they’re going to afford basic living costs
• Spending more quality time with loved ones
• Improved motivation and concentration
• Improved relationships between managers and their staff 
• Being able to provide for their children
• Being able to travel and go on holiday
• Improving their health and wellbeing through better quality food and access to fitness facilities 

How does the Living Wage benefit employers?

Implementing the real Living Wage doesn’t just benefit employees. Businesses who provide the Living Wage can expect to see improvements in multiple areas that stem from happier, healthier staff. 

Some examples of these improvements are: 

• Improved employee productivity
• Improved reputation 
• Decreased staff turnover
• Reduced recruitment and training costs 

In 2017, the Living Wage Foundation surveyed more than 800 businesses in their network to discover the benefits employers have found from paying their staff a higher wage. Read the full report.

Monzo, a UK online bank, has found the quality of customer service provided has increased due to paying their staff the Living Wage.

Cardiff University saw an improvement in recruitment and staff retention as well as an increase in morale.

Borough Care’s experience of paying the Living Wage 

Borough Care, a care home provider across the North West, is a registered Supporter of the Good Employment Charter. They are one of the 7,000 employers in the country paying the Real Living Wage. 

Borough Care's team are at the heart of their organisation. Its dedicated team ensures that residents can enjoy the best possible care. 

Borough Care has always been committed to rewarding the dedication that its team members bring to their jobs. After working towards making the real Living Wage possible for the past few years, Borough Care became an accredited real Living Wage employer in April 2021. The board was delighted to be able to make a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work possible. They felt it was important to share Borough Care’s collective success with the whole team. 

‘Paying the real Living Wage to our employees is extremely important to us. Our team’s hard work, dedication and care for our residents is highly valued and paying the real Living Wage is the best way to reward this. Adopting the Good Employment Charter’s principles and living its values enables Borough Care to recruit the best people in the care sector.’ - Mark Ward, CEO of Borough Care

How can my business become a real Living Wage employer?

Out of all the real Living Wage employers - 93% saw benefits from accreditation, 86% reported that it enhanced their reputation and 80% saw an increase in their quality of work. 

If you’re interested in becoming a registered real Living Wage employer, there is a criteria you need to meet before applying. To learn what you need to have in place before applying, visit the Living Wage Foundation’s FAQ section.

Does your business tick all the boxes? Great! You can apply to become an accredited Living Wage employer. 

Here’s to better employment!

Good luck to all of the businesses on their journeys to becoming accredited Living Wage employers. We hope this post gives you a better understanding of the benefits being a Living Wage employer can bring.

Make sure to follow the Good Employment Charter on Twitter and LinkedIn.

You can keep up with Borough Care and its lovely residents on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.