Record Number of Real Living Wage Employers
The number of Scottish employers registered as paying the real Living Wage has hit a new high of 3,500.
The rate is reviewed annually and currently stands at £12 an hour.
The milestone was reached ahead of the tenth anniversary of Living Wage Scotland, a programme launched in 2014 by Poverty Alliance with Scottish Government funding to encourage more firms to pay the real Living Wage. Living Wage Scotland is a partnership with the Living Wage Foundation and receives funding from the Scottish Government.
Proportionately, Scotland has around five times more accredited real Living Wage employers than the rest of the UK. Latest statistics also show nearly 90% of workers aged over 18 in Scotland are paid the real Living Wage or above – ahead of 87.1% in Wales, 87% in England and 84.4% in Northern Ireland.
The Scottish Government itself achieved real Living Wage employer status in 2015, the first government in the UK to do so.
These figures show Scotland continues to lead the way on fair work.
GRAEME
I am proud that the Scottish Government has been a real Living Wage employer since 2015, as has my own constituency office, and its efforts to bring more and more employers on board is clearly paying dividends.
I am very pleased to welcome this latest milestone, and would wish to thank all those in Angus who have signed up.
I would continue to encourage businesses locally to commit to paying the real Living Wage – in the end it is better for employer and employee alike.
On a visit to one of the most recently accredited firms, Wellbeing Economy Secretary Màiri McAllan thanked the growing number of employers committed to keeping pace with the real Living Wage.
Fair Work is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s ambition to move towards a wellbeing economy that benefits employees and the planet alongside traditional economic indicators. More than 64,000 workers have had a pay rise as a result of accreditation, making a real and ongoing impact for people in Scotland.
WELLBEING ECONOMY SECRETARY, MAIRI MCALLAN
All public sector grants in Scotland now include a requirement for recipients to pay the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for workers to raise concerns. We firmly oppose the inappropriate use of zero hours contracts and other types of employment that offer workers minimal job or financial security.
While employment powers are reserved to the UK Government, we will continue to use our Fair Work policy to drive up labour market standards for workers across Scotland. Fair Work is good for workers, good for employers and good for the economy. Every firm which has declared its intention to be a real Living Wage employer provides peace of mind for its staff, particularly during the cost of living crisis. I thank all the 3,500 Scottish businesses that have now taken that step.
The Poverty Alliance believes in a wellbeing economy beyond the injustice of in-work poverty. Thanks to the leadership of more than 3,500 accredited Living Wage employers in Scotland we are now able to celebrate a decade of incredible impact.
POVERTY ALLIANCE DIRECTOR, PETER KELLY
The real Living Wage provides a stronger foundation for workers to build better lives for themselves and their households, and a better Scotland for all of us. We commend every employer that has chosen to join the Living Wage movement: they are paving the way to a new kind of economy, where more workers earn what they need to thrive, and we encourage employers not yet accredited to get in touch.
