Heart of Bucks has today accredited as a Living Wage Employer. Our Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Heart of Bucks receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.00. This rate is significantly higher than the government minimum for over 25s, which currently stands at £7.83 per hour.
The South East is a region where 17% of all jobs pay less than the real Living Wage – this is equivalent to around 635,000 jobs.
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.
Carolyn Clarke, Operations Manager at Heart of Bucks said:
As a registered charity that works at the heart of our community we are aware of how challenging it can be for people working in the third sector. In line with our mission statement, we aspire to make our community a better place to live, work, play and do business. We are proud to pay the real Living Wage and view it as a worthwhile investment in our staff team.
Tess Lanning, Director, Living Wage Foundation said:
We’re delighted that Heart of Bucks has joined the movement of over 4,700 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.
They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as IKEA, Heathrow Airport, Barclays, Chelsea and Everton Football Clubs and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Heart of Bucks, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”
