The real Living Wage is a voluntary initiative backed by over 7,000 employers across the UK, which looks to provide workers with a wage which meets every day needs, whether that’s a surprise trip to the dentist, or a short family break to save for.
Blog by Senior Frameworks Manager for Morgan Sindall Construction Midlands, David Kelly.
Monday 9th November is the start of Living Wage Week, encouraging businesses across the UK to become accredited as real Living Wage employers, paying their employees £10.50 for London workers, or £9.50 for employees across the rest of the UK. This is compared to the National living wage of £8.72 for people over 25, and £8.20 for people 24 and under.
Morgan Sindall Construction is proud to now be an accredited real Living Wage employer.
I first became aware of the real Living Wage about 18 months ago, when I was fortunate to have been invited to a number of Living Wage receptions both here in the Midlands and in London.
During these events, I was fortunate to talk to several people whose lives were changed for the better as a result of their employees becoming living wage accredited. I could see how emotional it was for them and what a difference it was making to their lives and their families.
When digging a little deeper, I was surprised at just how few Tier One construction companies had backed the campaign I knew then it was the right thing to do and decided to promote Living Wage within Morgan Sindall Construction. As a company we work across the entire country in all sectors of the industry, including regional and national frameworks.
Many of these frameworks work with and support Local Authorities; some of these Authorities are in the most challenging areas of the country where unemployment is at its highest and wage levels at their lowest, in some cases below the minimum living wage. With offices across the country and with support from our local supply chain and SME’s, I realised we had a fantastic opportunity, to make a huge difference and improve the standard of living for many thousands of people and regional economies Something that is more important today than ever before.
Recognising the importance Morgan Sindall Construction got on board and we started to review our own payment structure and those of our regular third party contractors. With the support of Living Wage, we were ready to go, and in September this year, Morgan Sindall Construction became a Living wage accredited company.
Morgan Sindall Construction is delighted to support the Living Wage campaign; it changes people’s lives and it’s the right thing to do.