Children’s Health Scotland has been accredited as a Living Wage Employer. Our Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Children’s Health Scotland receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.30 in the UK. This rate is significantly higher than the government minimum for over 25s, which currently stands at £8.21 per hour.
In Scotland nearly a fifth of all jobs (18%) pay less than the real Living Wage – around 404,000 jobs. Despite this, Children’s Health Scotland has committed to pay the real Living Wage and deliver a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.
Helen Forrest, Chief Executive of Children’s Health Scotland said: “As a national Scottish charity there is a massive emphasis on the quality of service that our staff deliver, so it is really important that their work is fairly rewarded. Paying the real Living Wage demonstrates that Children’s Health Scotland is committed to the values of fairness, and treating our workforce well, and we are delighted to have secured accreditation as a Living Wage employer.”
The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum. Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 160,000 people and put over £800m extra into the pockets of low paid workers.
Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: “We are delighted to welcome Children’s Health Scotland to the Living Wage movement of over 1, 400 Scottish employers who together want to go further than the government minimum to make sure that all their staff earn enough to live on. They join lots of smaller employers as well as larger and iconic Scottish employers like SSE, Standard Life, Barrs, Mackies, ScotRail, DC Thomson and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Children’s Health Scotland, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”
