Championing a living wage for Camden
By Tor Marie, Apprentice Project Support Officer and Patrick Jones, Business Growth Manager at London Borough of Camden.
This week, Camden Council is celebrating Living Wage Week: an opportunity to talk about fair pay and how businesses and organisations can come together to reduce in-work poverty and improve quality of life. We are proud to be an accredited Living Wage Foundation employer.
What is the Living Wage?
The real Living Wage is an independently calculated hourly rate based on what employees and their families need to live. It stands separate from the government’s National Living Wage, formerly called National Minimum Wage, which does not take into account the pressures and costs of modern life.
Since the Living Wage movement began in 2001 it has delivered more than £1 billion in extra wages, lifting over 240,000 people out of in-work poverty. Over 6,500 UK employers are now Living Wage Foundation accredited. 93% of accredited employers said it has benefited their business, and 86% have seen an increase in staff motivation.
Camden’s commitment to the Living Wage
Camden has a long history of leading the way on fair pay and equality. We recognise the importance of maintaining pay at a level that allows people to provide their families with the essentials of life and have for a number of years ensured that our employees are paid above the London Living Wage. Becoming accredited members of the Living Wage Foundation in 2012 was an important demonstration of this commitment.
In 2015, we introduced a minimum earnings guarantee ensuring that the Council’s lowest paid staff receive a higher level of pay, further narrowing the gap between the lowest and highest paid workers. In 2019, as part of ongoing investment in our workforce, Camden extended its application of the London Living Wage to cover all our apprentices.
The Living Wage is central to our standard of Good Work in Camden and the Camden 2025 vision of a borough where no one is left behind. We believe that everyone should be able to access the work that’s right for them, in a job that provides income, stability and the headspace needed to live a healthy, balanced life.
Inclusive Business in Camden
Championing good work amongst our business community is an essential part of our vision for Good Work Camden and why we’re developing an Inclusive Business network.
Inclusive Business is about building a clear definition of what good work practice means for Camden employers and testing out what we can do to help employers in the borough to adapt and provide good work to their employees. The focus is on four areas of best practice: making recruitment inclusive and accessible; ensuring roles are flexible around people’s lives and wellbeing; supporting progression and development, and; providing people with enough job security and pay.
The hope is that the network will encourage the Council and employers to collaborate, engage and learn from each other. Whilst we are initially focusing on a small number of partners, our longer-term vision is to grow the network into a large hub of cross-sector Camden employers varying from SMEs to larger commercial organisations.
We know this is a difficult time for businesses. Throughout the next year, we will tailor our engagement around the support we can offer them, such as helping them to grow their local workforce.
This is an emerging area with ambitious goals, so watch this space for updates. To find out more or to get involved in the Inclusive Business network, please contact Patrick Jones Patrick.Jones@camden.gov.uk
Show your support for Living Wage Week by sharing on social media using the hashtags #LivingWageWeek #LivingWage
