The Living Wage Foundation is pleased to announce that Citizens Advice Wirral, has today accredited as a Living Wage Employer.
Their Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Citizens Advice Wirral, regardless of whether they are direct employees or third-party contracted staff; receive a minimum hourly wage of £8.75 in the UK. This rate is significantly higher than the statutory minimum for over 25s of £7.83 per hour introduced in April 2018.
The real Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. The Living Wage is calculated according to the real costs of living.
Carol Johnson-Eyre, Citizens Advice Wirral’s Chief Executive Officer said, ‘Citizens Advice Wirral have paid the real Living Wage rate for over 18 months. We have chosen to become a Living Wage accredited employer to raise the profile of our commitment to paying people a wage they can live on, and to encourage other organisations to consider doing so. As a service who provide information and advice we have many clients who are affected by in-work poverty as the minimum wage of £7.83 is not enough to live on. Clients on a low-income present to us with debts or to get a food voucher as they can’t afford to feed their families and may also borrow money from high-interest lenders or loan sharks to make ends meet. All employers should pay the real Living Wage to their employees so they don’t end up with money issues’
Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage enjoys cross-party political support.
Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: “We welcome Citizens Advice Wirral to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer.
“Responsible businesses across the UK are voluntarily signing up to pay the real Living Wage now. The real Living Wage rate is annually calculated to reflect the real costs of living.”
“We are a movement of over 3700 UK employers who together want to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on. We have lots of small businesses as well as big household names like; IKEA, Aviva, Chelsea and Everton Football Clubs and many more.
These businesses recognise that the Living Wage accreditation is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Citizens Advice Wirral join us, because they too believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”
