The living wage is a rate of pay calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK. The rate is reviewed annually in April, and employers can choose to pay it on a voluntary basis. (Suffolk County Council made a commitment to pay the living wage for all corporate employees.)
Your named HR Caseworker will be happy to provide further advice if your school is interested in implementing the Living Wage. It will be important to consider:
- With any uplifts in pay, how the school will maintain appropriate differentials between pay for different levels of work
- Cost and sustainability
- The interaction between low pay levels and state benefits and ensuring staff are made aware that there may be some offsetting of benefits as a result of any rise in wages.
Further information can be found:
- On the living wage website
- In the document “The Living Wage - A briefing and plan for implementation in Church of England schools”, which asks Church schools across England to pay the Living Wage. Your school may have been sent this document by UNISON, with a request for information on workers paid below the Living Wage. Responding to this request is at the school’s discretion.