Club staff have enjoyed a special lunch in the Eric Morecambe Lounge at Kenilworth Road today to celebrate the start of Living Wage Week.
In 2014 the Hatters became the first English professional football club to become a fully accredited Living Wage employer, paying the ‘Real Living Wage’, and we are proud holders of the People’s Choice Award from the Living Wage Champion Awards 2019 held in June.
The Living Wage campaign is an independent movement of businesses, organisations and people who believe a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.
Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis - it provides an ethical benchmark for responsible pay.
The campaign for a Living Wage was launched by members of London Citizens in 2001. Parents in East London found that despite working two, or more, minimum wage jobs they were struggling to make ends meet, and were left with no time for community and family life.
It is an example of how civil society, businesses and organisations can work together to tackle in-work poverty.
Today, it was announced that the UK hourly rate for the real Living Wage will increase by 30p to £9.30, while people living in London will see their hourly pay rise by 20p to £10.75.
Statutory National Living Wage workers aged 25 and above currently receive £8.21 an hour.
Living Wage Foundation director Katherine Chapman said: "In this time of uncertainty, today's new living wage rates give a boost to hundreds of thousands of UK workers. Good businesses know that the real living wage means happier, healthier and more motivated workers, and that providing workers with financial security is not only the right thing to do, but has real business benefits.
"This year, for the first time cities and towns have announced big plans to grow the number of living wage employers in their communities. We are delighted at the ambition of Cardiff and Salford to build living wage cities, with Cardiff planning to double the number of workers getting the real living wage to nearly 50,000, freeing many more families from the low pay trap. We hope to see many more towns and cities follow suit."
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
- The real Living Wage is independently calculated based on what employees and their families need to live.
- This is why it’s higher than the government minimum wage, rebranded as the ‘National Living Wage’.
- Employers voluntarily choose to pay it - changing people’s lives right now.
- It applies to all workers over 18 - recognising that young people have the same living costs as everyone else.
FACTS AND FIGURES
93% of university graduates want to work for a Living Wage employer
93% of the Living Wage network say it has benefitted their business
90% of consumers agreed that pay should reflect living costs
86% of Living Wage employers reported an increase in staff motivation since accrediting
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MOVEMENT
The campaign for a real Living Wage has now delivered more than £1 billion in extra wages to workers since it began in 2001, and it has lifted over 200,000 people out of in-work poverty.
You can find out more about the Living Wage Foundation by clicking here.