Roofing services firm Chew Valley Roofing has become accredited as a living wage employer.
The organisation has committed to pay every member of staff a minimum hourly wage of £10.90, which is higher than the government minimum for those aged 23 and above, which currently stands at £9.50 per hour and £11.95 for employees based in London. As of April, the government will raise the national living wage by 9.7% due to the rising cost of living.
According to the business, which is based in the South West, it introduced this as almost one-fifth (18.1%) of all jobs in the region pay less than the real living wage, which equates to around 424,000 jobs.
The living wage rate is calculated according to the cost of living and provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that want their staff earn a wage they can live on, as opposed to just the government minimum.
Ryan Thatcher, director of Chew Valley Roofing, said: “While we’re a small family owned and run business, we believe it is just as important for us, as it is for larger businesses, to pay directly employed staff and sub-contractors a real living wage. That’s why we’ve committed to pay the UK living wage set by the Living Wage Foundation.”
Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, added: “We’re delighted that Chew Valley Roofing has joined the movement of almost 11,000 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 such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more, who recognise that paying the real living wage is the mark of a responsible employer, and they, like Chew Valley Roofing, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”