LOCAL MSP URGES MID FIFE & GLENROTHES EMPLOYERS TO SIGN UP TO LIVING WAGE

Published date : 05 Sep 2017

Jenny Gilruth MSP has urged businesses in Mid Fife & Glenrothes to sign up to the Scottish Living Wage – as the number of accredited Living Wage employers in Scotland hits 900.

The Scottish Living Wage is independently calculated based on the cost of living – with the real Living Wage currently at £8.45, above the minimum wage of £7.50 for workers aged over 25. There are currently 37 accredited Living Wage employers in Fife.

On Friday 1st September, Diageo became Scotland’s 900th Living Wage employer, which will see employees at both its Leven and Clackmannanshire sites paid the full living wage. Diageo has gone further than the terms of accreditation by also ensuring all apprentices across the UK are paid above the living wage rate. The achievement was acknowledged by Jenny Gilruth MSP is a motion to the Scottish Parliament.

Ms Gilruth is now writing to employers in Mid Fife & Glenrothes encouraging them to also explore the benefits of accreditation, with research showing paying the real Living Wage leads to a fall in absenteeism and a significant impact on recruitment and staff retention.

Commenting, Jenny Gilruth MSP said:

“The real Living Wage can make a huge difference to both workers and employers.

“For business, paying the Living Wage makes sense – it’s an investment in people and all the evidence shows it leads to increased productivity and reduced staff absence and turnover.

“Around 20 per cent of Scotland’s workforce earns less than the real Living Wage. With low pay one of the main drivers of in-work poverty, it’s vital that employers who can pay the real Living Wage do so.

“I would strongly encourage all employers in my constituency to look into the real benefits of becoming an accredited Living Wage employer.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITOR

On Friday 1st September, Jenny Gilruth MSP submitted motion S5M-07462 (“Diageo is 900th Accredited Living Wage Employer”) to the Scottish Parliament, which acknowledged the achievement of Diageo becoming the 900th accredited Living Wage Employer in Scotland.

The motion text reads:

“That the Parliament congratulates Diageo on becoming the 900th accredited living wage employer in Scotland; acknowledges that Diageo employees in Scotland at both its Leven and Clackmannanshire sites will now be paid the full living wage; understands that the company has gone beyond the terms of the living wage accreditation by ensuring that all apprentices that it employs throughout the UK are paid above the living wage rate; commends it and all other employers in Scotland that have committed to paying the living wage, and hopes that this milestone will encourage even more employers in Scotland to pay the living wage in the future.”

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