COMMENT
DOING THE RIGHT THING
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The Living Wage was founded by Citizens
UK as far back as 2001 when the grassroots
organisation, Citizens UK, brought together local
institutions to talk about the issues a ecting their
communities. Low wages compared to high living
costs became the dominant theme and the slogan
“A fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay” was
created. The statutory minimum wage at the time
was just £3.70 per hour with families struggling
to cope with the living costs, particularly in
London where the costs for child care and living
accommodation is that much higher than the rest
of the UK.
The movement quickly gathered support across
political parties and businesses alike. The campaign
arranged rallies and various charity events to
increase its awareness within the community in
order to gain further support at a grassroot level. In
2003 the first o€ icial London Living Wage (LLW) was
announced, £6.40ph (42 per cent above the Minimum
Wage).
During a large public assembly in 2004 the
movement managed to gain the support of the
then, Mayor of London, to further champion the LLW
across the Capital. Major events, such as the London
2012 Olympics, agreed to support the Living Wage
which in turn helped to gain further momentum.
Now, in 2019 The Living Wage has become
widespread across many industries and the
understanding of its benefits are far better
appreciated. However, that’s not to say it has become
the norm, yet its growth over the years would suggest
it will become even greater established within the
years to come.
LONDON LIVING
Interestingly, within London, there are certain areas
that seem to have adopted the LLW quicker than
12 JUNE 2019
others. For example, within the City and Canary
Wharf whereby many large financial institutions have
their head o€ ices, the majority of these businesses
have adopted the LLW. This is potentially down to
the size of their budgets but also because many of
these businesses see it as “the right thing to do”.
Furthermore, it may also form part of their Corporate
Social Responsibility agenda that is declared to
shareholders and stakeholders, alike.
The West End tends to be made up of SME
businesses which due to constrained budgets, would
appear to be two or three years behind that of the
City in terms of take-up of the LLW.
Herein lies one of the crucial aspects to the
ongoing success and uptake of the LLW, education.
Quite o‚ en I will attend meetings with
potential new clients and explain that,
we as a business, will always look
to support the LLW assuming
the client is happy with
the commercial impact
on costs that it will
have. Within the City,
more o‚ en than not,
the client will already
have supported this
wage or will be in favour
of moving towards it.
Whereas, in areas such
as the West End, many
businesses may have little
understanding of the LLW and the
benefits that it can bring. At this stage it is
down to the service provider to explain and educate
the client on its potential benefits in order to justify
its increase on their bottom-line costs.
The key benefits include;
One of the crucial
aspects to the ongoing
success and uptake
of the LLW,
education.”
Greater staff retention
Lower absenteeism
Morally & Ethically correct
Such benefits can be critical when
delivering a consistent service, as a
major challenge can evolve if there
is a regular turnover of sta€ .
Certain clients will always be
constrained by budgets no matter
how great the potential impact the
LLW would be. However, even if at
that particular time they may not
be able to support the cost increase of moving to the
LLW, it would then be on their radar for the future.
Although the current impact of Brexit has not
been fully felt within the cleaning industry, we have
certainly noticed a reduction in available labour.
One of the major draws to working in the UK is the
increased wages that people can earn compared with
their home country. With this in mind, my view is
that the Living Wage will become even more crucial
as we move forward when it comes to retaining sta€ ,
but also being seen as an employer of choice in a
restricted labour pool.
Like with everything in life there will always be
drawbacks and the LLW is no di€ erent. One of the
theoretical positives, being able to attract a higher
standard of Cleaning Operative, is reducing as
the LLW starts to become more common
place as many major organisations
adopt the principle of paying the
LLW. A few years ago, you could
attract a more experienced
cleaner through paying
the Living Wage, however
cleaners are now almost
expecting the LLW through
working in the City which
leads into, in my opinion,
the biggest challenge posed
by the Living Wage, the per
cent increase per year.
For many years now clients have
supported the annual upli‚ . This has
meant that cleaners almost become reliant on
such an increase. The challenge is that the increase
is o‚ en higher than inflation, for example in 2017
the LLW saw a 4.6 per cent increase, which is fine in
a buoyant market but with external pressures such
as Brexit many organisations are having to re-look
at operational budgets. As a result, clients may no
longer be able to support the per cent increase each
year and service partners may have to come up with
other ways to support the upli‚ in order to remain
a Living Wage employer. In this scenario many
service providers would have to reduce labour so
that the upli‚ could be applied. This in turn brings
operational challenges and may result in service
levels being potentially compromised.
Overall the LLW is a huge benefit within our
industry and has ensured Cleaning Operatives are
paid a fair rate factoring in the costs of the capital. We
as a business will continue to support and promote
its cause and hope to see an even greater client up
take through the coming years.
ADVICE & OPINION