WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Paying the Living Wage to employees has been shown to have a number of benefits for companies across the country, including:

  • Significantly lower rates of staff turnover
  • Substantial cost savings on recruitment and induction training
  • Reduced absence and sickness levels
  • Increased morale and higher productivity

We believe that paying the Living Wage will increase productivity, profile and profitability, and your business will also benefit from the positive marketing around the campaign.

Sign up now – it’s free and will take only a couple of minutes.

Need more information? See our case studies page for more information on the business case for the Living Wage. This information will expand as we continue to ask local businesses and employees directly about the effects of paying a Living Wage. There are FAQs below and if you have any more questions, please contact us on 01273 719097 or email  campaigns@brightonchamber.co.uk.

  • What our local politicians and councillors say ...

    Caroline Lucas, MP: “I’m immensely proud of the many employers in Brighton and Hove who subscribe to the Living Wage Campaign. They show that, even when times are tough, it’s possible to pay fairly and tackle inequality while maintaining economic competitiveness. Those businesses reflect values that have become synonymous with our city – that fierce sense of fairness, of working for the common good: that’s Brighton and Hove. I’ll continue to back the Living Wage, and I encourage all businesses to subscribe to it.”

    Mike Weatherley, MP: “It is very hard not to support the aims of the Living Wage campaign. Pointing out to employers that a certain level of wage is likely to lead to staff staying on and keeping the campaign voluntary should satisfy both employers and employees. I am delighted to add my support.”

    Simon Kirby, MP: “I am happy to support Living Wage Week. We all know that prices in Brighton are particularly high, especially for housing and transport, and so it is important that employers are fair in the wages they pay. Having a job is a key component in ensuring that people are able to move forward with their lives and making work pay is a key component in the Government’s Long Term Economic plan.”

    Cllr Jason Kitcat: “I’m so proud that our Brighton & Hove Living Wage campaign is one of the most successful in the UK. The reality is that everyone in society bears the costs of low wages, as the government effectively subsidises them through the welfare system. Where people aren’t paid enough to live, benefits like housing benefit helps them make ends meet. But paying the Living Wage is good for business too, as staff members are more likely to stay at an organisation, work better, and morale is higher. Local people also have more money in their pockets to spend in local shops and restaurants. A growing number of local employers are showing that it’s possible to reward employees and build a successful company at the same time, and I look forward seeing more sign up.”

    Cllr Graham Cox, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Hove and Portslade 2015: “Paying the Living Wage helps companies recruit and retain good staff. Turnover reduces and that saves money (e.g. in retraining) and employees feel more valued. Perhaps most importantly of all it improves the image of the businesses who pay it. The hospitality sector, so important to our city, needs to move from being a low wage business to a Living Wage business. The improvement in the economic outlook is giving the opportunity for this to happen and the Chamber of Commerce are successfully demonstrating it makes business sense as well.”

    Davy Jones, Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Kemptown 2015: “I am a huge supporter of the Living Wage campaign. I am delighted that the City Council was one of the first in the country to adopt it for its employees and that a wider campaign exists within the City for its adoption. It is a terrible indictment of our economic system that so many people are on zero hours contracts and poverty wages with no recent increases to keep up with the rising cost of living. No wonder that the much-awaited upturn to the economy has been so slow and hesitant when people do not have enough money in their pockets! No wonder that the public purse is stretched when so many people in work are receiving top-up payments as their wages are so low. We need to win wider recognition that working people need decent wages – that a living wage is not a luxury but a necessity if we are to have the fairer society that so many people claim to support”

    Peter Kyle, Labour Parliamentary Candidate Hove and Portslade 2015: “It’s a shocking truth that most people living in poverty these days are in work. Many employers are trailblazing in their efforts to tackle in-work poverty, after-all it makes sense to do so. Actions like the Brighton & Hove Living Wage Campaign bring these pioneers of fair pay together to transform how our city’s employers approach remuneration and I have proudly added my name to this growing movement.”

    Other support comes from UNISON…

    Alex Knutsen of UNISON: “Brighton and Hove UNISON is very pleased to be working with the Chamber, and optimistic that in the next 12 months, we will be able to double the number of businesses in the City whose staff receive the Living Wage.”

  • Frequently Asked Questions

    How much is the Living Wage?

    The Living Wage rate for the UK is currently £9.30 per hour. The Living Wage rate for London is currently £10.75 per hour.

    The rates are announced every November during Living Wage week and businesses are given until 1st April to implement them.

    The Living Wage rates are an hourly rate. You can work out the annual salary by calculating the Living Wage rate x hours worked per week x 52. For example the UK Living Wage as an annual salary might be £9.30 x 37.5 x 52 = £18,135.

    Who does the Living Wage apply to?

    The Living Wage applies to all staff over the age of 18 who work regularly on your premises. Apprentices and interns are exempt.

    How do I sign up?

    To sign up, you just need to make a commitment to paying your employees at least £9.30 per hour. There is no fee and it only takes a couple of minutes. You can sign up here.

    Will someone check up on the businesses that have signed up to the Living Wage Campaign?

    No, by signing up a business is simply announcing publicly that they are paying their staff a minimum of the Living Wage. If something changes for the business and they are no longer able to do this, or should an employee approach us and say that they are not paid a Living Wage, we will have a discussion with the business to see what to do next. There will not be a formal process of monitoring or checking up on businesses.

    Will I be blacklisted for not signing up to the campaign?

    No, the campaign is a positive one. The benefits of paying the Living Wage will be promoted and businesses that sign up to it will also receive a certain amount of positive marketing. We will listen to businesses that do not or cannot pay it and try to see how obstacles could be overcome.