The UK’s voluntary Living Wage is being increased, putting around 180,000 employees in line for a pay rise.
People working for an employer outside of London that has signed up to the scheme will see their income go up by 2.8% as their hourly rate increases to £9 (US$11.72). Wages in London will increase by 3.4% to £10.55 (US$13.74) an hour. The rate is calculated to reflect the level of income that people require to feed, clothe and house themselves.
Around 4,700 UK organisations voluntarily pay their staff the Living Wage, including furniture retailer IKEA, insurance giant Aviva and search engine giant, Google.
The Living Wage differs from the ‘National Living Wage’ (NLW), which is the government-sanctioned equivalent to a national minimum wage and is a legally-binding hourly rate for staff and subcontractors aged 25 and over. It currently stands at £7.83 (US$10.20) an hour for people over 25.
The Living Wage, on the other hand, was created by the Living Wage Foundation, which argues that the NLW is not enough to meet workers’ basic needs. Both the Living Wage and NLW are reviewed each year.
Tess Lanning, the charity’s director, told BDaily: "Employers that pay the real Living Wage enable their workers to live a life of dignity, supporting them to pay off debts and meet the pressures of rising bills. We want to see local councils, universities, football clubs, bus companies and the other major public and private sector employers in every city commit to become real Living Wage employers."
According to professional services firm KPMG, some 22% of jobs nationally pay less than the Living Wage, which equates to about 5.75 million workers compared with 4.87 million in 2013.
Figures from the UK Association of Payroll Giving Organisations (APGO) indicate, meanwhile, that the amount of funds raised for good causes through payroll giving rose by £3.5 million (US$4.6 million) to £141.5 million (US$184.3 million) in 2017/18.
According to the three biggest payroll-giving agencies – the Charities Aid Foundation, the Charities Trust and Charitable Giving – UK employees donated around £133 million (US$173 million) in the year to the end of March, while employer-matching increased from £7 million (US$9.1 million) to £8.5 million (US$11.1 million).
The APGO said that more than 5,500 UK employers operate the scheme, which enables employees to give directly to charity from their pay packets before tax. More than a million employees donate each month to 8,500 different causes, Third Sector reported.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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The UK’s voluntary Living Wage is being increased, putting around 180,000 employees in line for a pay rise.
People working for an employer outside of London that has signed up to the scheme will see their income go up by 2.8% as their hourly rate increases to £9 (US$11.72). Wages in London will increase by 3.4% to £10.55 (US$13.74) an hour. The rate is calculated to reflect the level of income that people require to feed, clothe and house themselves.
Around 4,700 UK organisations voluntarily pay their staff the Living Wage, including furniture retailer IKEA, insurance giant Aviva and search engine giant, Google.
The Living Wage differs from the ‘National Living Wage’ (NLW), which is the government-sanctioned equivalent to a national minimum wage and is a legally-binding hourly rate for staff and subcontractors aged 25 and over. It currently stands at £7.83 (US$10.20) an hour for people over 25.
The Living Wage, on the other hand, was created by the Living Wage Foundation, which argues that the NLW is not enough to meet workers’ basic needs. Both the Living Wage and NLW are reviewed each year.
Tess Lanning, the charity’s director, told BDaily: "Employers that pay the real Living Wage enable their workers to live a life of dignity, supporting them to pay off debts and meet the pressures of rising bills. We want to see local councils, universities, football clubs, bus companies and the other major public and private sector employers in every city commit to become real Living Wage employers."
According to professional services firm KPMG, some 22% of jobs nationally pay less than the Living Wage, which equates to about 5.75 million workers compared with 4.87 million in 2013.
Figures from the UK Association of Payroll Giving Organisations (APGO) indicate, meanwhile, that the amount of funds raised for good causes through payroll giving rose by £3.5 million (US$4.6 million) to £141.5 million (US$184.3 million) in 2017/18.
According to the three biggest payroll-giving agencies – the Charities Aid Foundation, the Charities Trust and Charitable Giving – UK employees donated around £133 million (US$173 million) in the year to the end of March, while employer-matching increased from £7 million (US$9.1 million) to £8.5 million (US$11.1 million).
The APGO said that more than 5,500 UK employers operate the scheme, which enables employees to give directly to charity from their pay packets before tax. More than a million employees donate each month to 8,500 different causes, Third Sector reported.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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