It’s Living Wage Week!

We’ve partnered with the Living Wage Foundation, Creature and Clear Channel to help raise awareness and recognise the hard work of low-paid key workers, who are struggling to get by on a minimum wage.

Whether you’re a care worker, cleaner, security guard or considered a key worker, it’s only fair that you’re paid for the hours of essential work you put in.

And throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, when most of us were forced to work from home, it’s the essential key workers who were on the frontline, on-call and working long shifts to help keep our country moving forwards.

Research conducted by the Living Wage Foundation found that our key workers were struggling with their rates of pay during the pandemic. With over 5.5 million jobs still paying less than the real living wage.

And this is what the Living Wage Foundation is all about, it’s the reason why this week is the Living Wage Week and we wanted to get involved to help raise awareness and call for change.

What Is The Living Wage In The UK?

The real living wage is a wage paid by employers throughout the UK where they believe their staff deserves a wage that reflects not just the work they do, but also a wage that meets everyday needs.

These employers voluntarily pay their staff the real living wage and it can go to great lengths in staff satisfaction, employee retention and employee daily living.

For workers in London, employees receive the London Living Wage.

Not to be confused with the minimum wage (for under 25s) which is currently £8.20 per hour. Or the national living wage (for over 25s) which is the government minimum of £8.72 per hour.

The real living wage is the only wage rate based on what people need to live on. This is for 18-year-olds and over and is completely voluntary by employers to pay.

Currently, outside of London, the real living wage is £9.50 per hour and for London, this is £10.85 per hour (as of November Living Wage Week 2020). 

The Pandemic

Throughout 2020 which may forever be known as the year of the Coronavirus, key workers, essential workers, whatever you wish to call them, the people who are the beating heart of our country were struggling to get by on the real living wage of £9.30 per hour.

Exposing themselves to the virus, seeing first-hand the impact it had on hospitals, communities and even the world, it’s an incredibly daunting thought to think that this was their daily lives for most of the year.

And while they go to great lengths to protect us, many key workers aren’t protected by decent pay and that’s what the living wage campaign is all about.

Thankfully, for most in the U.K., the real living wage will rise from £9.30 per hour to £9.50 per hour. For those in London, this will rise from £10.75 per hour to £10.85 per hour. 

And as the Living Wage Foundation continue to work with employers who voluntarily pay the real living wage, their efforts continue to pay off year after year as the real living wage increases to match everyday needs.

Granite Workwear’s Involvement

We were approached by the Living Wage Foundation who asked us if we were interested in working with them on the Living Wage Campaign for Living Wage Week. 

We supplied them with a couple of our products:

• Leo Rumsam High Vis Vest

• Leo Pilton Coloured Reflective Waistcoat

And they used our products as the backdrop for their advertising campaigns and we couldn’t be more thrilled with how they turned out.

Furthermore, this was a campaign that we felt quite strongly about, as we are a living wage employer and our customers range from delivery drivers to security guards and more. This was something we were more than happy to get involved with.

How You Can Get Involved

Are you an employer who works in an industry considered essential? 

With many key workers struggling throughout the pandemic this year, it’s only fair that they’re given a wage that’s fair and reflects the work they do. Not to mention a wage that reflects the real-world items of everyday essentials.

Get involved today with the Living Wage Foundation and start helping your staff where they need it the most.