The Watches of Switzerland Group has been accredited as a real living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation.
As a result of this commitment, every Watches of Switzerland Group employee will receive a minimum hourly wage of £11.95 for those based in London and £10.90 for the rest of the UK. Both of these rates are higher than the government’s national living wage for those aged 23 and above, which currently stands at £10.42 per hour.
The real living wage is calculated according to the cost of living by the Living Wage Foundation and provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that want to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on.
In addition, the group stated that it is committed to providing a variety of benefits that have been tailored to support its employees’ physical, mental and financial wellbeing at every stage of their lives.
Brian Duffy, chief executive officer at The Watches of Switzerland Group, said: “Our colleagues are at the heart of our business and are critical to our success. Our teams are passionate and dedicated about the clients they serve and the relationships they have supporting each other internally to give the best client experience. We wanted to implement the real living wage to recognise the value of our colleagues across the business and demonstrate our core value of always doing the right thing.”
Philippa Jackson, HR director at The Watches of Switzerland Group, added: “We are proud to be a real living wage employer. These pay rates, combined with our comprehensive benefits package and our recent investment into our support centre at Carlton Park in Leicester, and the upcoming move in Fort Lauderdale for our US HQ, will ensure people ‘join, grow and stay’ with our group. It’s in our DNA as a business to support and care for those on the most junior salaries and this is a great example of our commitment to that purpose.”