Living Wage Week

This week we are celebrating Living Wage Week. This comes about as The Living Wage Foundation announces their latest annual wage rates in the UK and London. 

What is the real living wage?

The Living Wage Foundation is a UK based campaigning organisation which aims to persuade employers to pay a living wage. They run a voluntary scheme, with currently over 3,500 UK businesses now paying their staff the ‘real living wage’. The real living wage is calculated on what people need to survive. This is higher than the government minimum, which does not consider what employees and their families need to live. It is also different for London, where the real living wage is now £10.20 compared to £8.75 for the rest of the UK. 

Here at Paper Round we have been formerly accredited since May 2017, Leading the way as the first company in the world of waste management to have the accreditation. 

Paper Round are very excited about this step and Bill Swan, Managing Director said,

 “Paper Round has always had a very strong social and ethical side to our business. We have historically paid staff above the statutory minimum wage and we are delighted to formalise this and give a commitment to pay all our staff the Living Wage. We believe that this is not only the right thing to do, but will lead to better service for our clients. It will be easier to recruit and retain staff, giving us a passionate and loyal workforce committed to excellent customer service.”

Our clients are also celebrating this positive step, John Davies the Head of Sustainability at Derwent London said,

“As an accredited living wage employer ourselves it is really encouraging to see our suppliers committing to their workforce and taking this hugely positive step.”

So why do we think it’s so great?

Here at Paper Round, most of our working force are made up of manual labour workers like drivers, yard staff and sorting operatives. Paying our staff the real living wage means that we can continue to have a highly productive team and staff stay with us for longer, providing you with a consistent service. According to the Living Wage Foundation this is true for 75% of Living Wage businesses who also said it has helped to increase motivation. 

Whilst we have historically paid our staff above the minimum wage, having a formal accreditation has helped to strengthen our reputation as a social and ethical business. We hope that it will attract businesses and employees with a similar ethos in the future.  Overall, introducing the Living Wage not only makes great business sense, but it demonstrates investment in your people and your customers, who will be able to interact with staff who are motivated and productive. 

So why not check out the Living Wage employer map (here), see what businesses in your local area are accredited and find out how you and your business can get involved.