Freshwater proud to celebrate Living Wage Week 2016

Freshwater supports the foundation calling for payment of a wage that meets the cost of living

Freshwater UK, one of a pioneering group of nearly 3000 employers accredited by the Living Wage Foundation, has confirmed that it will be increasing its minimum hourly rate of pay in line with the real Living Wage by May 2017.

The new Living Wage rates announced this morning (Monday 31 October) by the Foundation for people aged 18 and over of £9.75 in London and £8.45 in the rest of the UK are independently calculated based on what employees and their families need to get by.

These rates mean some Freshwater staff will receive an actual pay increase and will also be used as a minimum salary when recruiting for interns, graduate trainees and other junior posts. Freshwater is also a founder signatory of the PRCA’s register of consultancies that pay interns.

Sarah Whittle, head of human resources at Freshwater said:

“At Freshwater, we have been fully committed to paying our employees in excess of the ‘real’ Living Wage for a long time. We recognise that our support in this area is crucial in demonstrating our values and ethics, and helping members of our workforce to afford to live with dignity. We continually strive to be an employer of choice and, along with a whole range of employee benefits, we hope that our dedication to fair pay will motivate existing talent and attract and retain new recruits too.

“It is important that we show responsible leadership and demonstrate our commitment to supporting our employees with all our HR practices. By applying the Living Wage, we know we are doing the right thing and making a difference for each individual.”

Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation said:

“Business by business and organisation by organisation our employers are voluntarily choosing to close the pay gap in the UK between what people need to live on and the government minimum that every employer has to pay. Today’s increase in the real Living Wage will mean thousands of employees around the country will get a much needed increase to their pay packet to help them meet the cost of living. That’s the difference paying the real Living Wage makes. During Living Wage Week we celebrate the leadership of those great Living Wage employers who make this possible.”

Freshwater is an independent communications consultancy with a range of expertise from crisis communications and media training to events and creative media production. Follow us on Twitter @FreshwaterUK.

For more updates on the Living Wage, follow @LivingWageUK on Twitter.