In July this year Weston super Mare Town Council passed a motion to become a Real Living Wage employer, which involves paying all staff over 18 years old the Real Living Wage, and working with council contractors to help them pay the Real Living Wage, which means the Town Council will be able to achieve Living Wage Foundation accreditation. This week in Living Wage week the Living Wage Foundation has announced the annual increase to the Real Living Wage which is now £9.50 an hour for workers outside London. This is a 20p an hour increase from £9.30 an hour to the new £9.50 an hour.
The announcement comes as new research by the Living Wage Foundation has demonstrated the scale of low pay during the pandemic, with 5.5 million jobs (20.3% of employee jobs) still paying less than the real Living Wage.
Cllr Helen Thornton, who proposed the Living Wage motion said: “As a council, we need to set an example that Weston values its low paid workers. Especially at this time when many are putting their lives on the line during the pandemic. We would encourage every business in Weston that is not currently paying the Real Living Wage to look seriously at paying it as the benefits in terms of recruitment, retention and worker satisfaction are enormous. There are already a few local and national organisations based in Weston who pay the Real Living Wage, why not think about joining them.”