North Ayrshire Council

09/22/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/22/2022 06:54

North Ayrshire Council to pay Real Living Wage rate early

Posted on 22 Sep 2022

North Ayrshire Council has committed to paying its staff the new Real Living Wage seven months early as part of its commitment to help people through the Cost-of-Living Crisis.

The new Real Living Wage rate of £10.90 per hour was announced today - a 10 per cent increase on the previous figure of £9.90.

And although the new rate is not due to be adopted by businesses and organisations until April 2023, the Council has committed to applying this rate of pay from today (Thursday, 22 September, 2022).

The announcement will benefit 961 Council employees in predominantly frontline roles.

North Ayrshire Council Leader Marie Burns said: "We know the difficulties facing families across North Ayrshire and have set in motion a series of measures to help people through the Cost-of-Living Crisis.

"It has never been more important to ensure those who are among the lowest earners get the support they need.

"Although the new rate will not be formally introduced until April next year, we have committed to ensuring that the new rate is introduced straight away.

"This is another hugely important commitment which will make an immediate difference to the lives of our staff earning the Real Living Wage."

North Ayrshire Council has paid the Real Living Wage since 2011 and is one of a number of local authorities from across Scotland to be officially accredited by the Scottish Living Wage Accreditation Initiative.

The Living Wage is an independently calculated figure which is updated annually to reflect the basic cost of living in the UK and is voluntarily paid by more than 11,000 businesses who believe their staff deserve a fair day's pay for a hard day's work.

According to the Living Wage Foundation, independent research on employers who have introduced the Real Living Wage has shown increases in employee productivity, greater staff retention and reduced sickness absence, and improved levels of morale, motivation and commitment.