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Home , Living wage, Living Wage Foundation

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A LIVING FUNDER WHAT IS THE ? WITH THANKS TO OUR The Living Wage is an hourly rate of pay, independently PRINCIPAL PARTNERS calculated each year based on the real cost of living in the UK and London.

In 2001 families came together and started a campaign to be paid a real Living Wage. Since then hundreds of thousands of families have benefited and been able to earn a wage they can live on. • The real Living Wage is Thousands of employers choose independently-calculated based on to go further than the government what employees and their families minimum and voluntarily pay need to live. the real Living Wage to all of their • That is why it is higher than the staff including their contracted and national living staff. This has meant a pay rise for wage. over 150,000 employees and their • Employers voluntarily choose to families. pay it, changing people’s lives right The now. celebrates employers that sign • The real Living Wage includes a up for accreditation by awarding UK rate and a separate London rate them the mark that reflects the higher costs of of a responsible living in the capital. employer. • It applies to all workers over 18. WHAT IS THE WHO ELSE IS A LIVING WAGE LIVING WAGE FUNDER SCHEME? FUNDER?

Living Wage Funders support We want to see the Living Wage charities to pay the Living Wage become the norm in every sector, through their grant-making. and we want the voluntary sector to lead the way by putting our We hope to work together to end values into practice and using our low pay in the Voluntary and influence for good. Community Sector. The Living Wage Funder scheme is Hundreds of charities and funded by People’s Health Trust funders have already embraced and was developed in the Living Wage, but low pay collaboration with a range of remains a real challenge; with funders including Trust for London, 26% of charity workers earning Barrow Cadbury, Comic Relief, Big below the real Living Wage, Lottery Fund, City Bridge Trust and compared to 21% of the overall a number of Local Authorities. UK workforce.

paid the Living Wage, we were not only ensuring a higher standard of living for many but we were also encouraging PEOPLE’S HEALTH smaller organisations to feel confident to request the Living Wage funding TRUST from other funders: we were helping “Having a wage which you can a movement to begin. Where we have realistically live off is directly linked had to increase a grant to ensure that to people’s health – our charitable a post was paid at Living Wage, it has priority. We began piloting paying the averaged at an increase of around 6% Living Wage to all funded posts in 2013 of the total cost: an incredibly cost- and over this time, we noticed some effective increase when you consider trends: where the Living Wage was the impact that it can have on the not paid tended to be play workers, life of that worker, their family and childcare workers and administrative the resultant commitment to their staff. They tended also to be part-time employer.” workers who were most affected. By JOHN HUME, ensuring that all funded posts were CHIEF EXECUTIVE TRUST FOR LONDON COMIC RELIEF As our mission is to tackle Comic Relief became a Living Wage and inequality in London, we view the Employer in 2014. Having made this Living Wage as an important measure commitment to our staff we began to in addressing issues of low pay and look at how we could extend this into in-work poverty in the capital and how we make grants in the UK. This have supported the campaign since meant ensuring that any roles funded its inception. In spite of the economic through Comic Relief would be paid crisis in 2008, we remained committed at least the Living Wage. We’re proud to creating a step change in the that our practices and policies as an campaign and invested over £1 million employer reflect our values, goals into this work. Since then, our funding and ambitions as a charity, and it’s has helped establish the Living Wage only right that we also apply this to Foundation and generated £49 million how we fund other organisations. As additional for 23,000 low paid a member of the Living Wage Friendly workers. Funders group we hope together we AUSTIN TAYLOR-LAYBOURN, can work towards ending low pay in the GRANTS MANAGER community and voluntary sector. SUE WICKS, UK GRANTS MANAGER

THE GOODALL FOUNDATION MILLFIELD HOUSE It’s fantastic that there is now a FOUNDATION growing groundswell amongst funders Millfield House Foundation’s whole to recognise the importance of paying purpose is to improve the conditions fairly in the charity and voluntary of economically and socially sector. I very much hope this leads to disadvantaged people here in the greater diversity across all teams; we North East. We see very clearly what will do better and achieve more if we a low wage economy can do to the can recruit and retain talented people, people being paid too little and to the including those who cannot afford economy of the region. That’s why we to take a wage cut to pursue a advocate paying the Living Wage and through which they aspire to have a are pleased to be a Living Wage Friendly positive impact on the world around Funder. them. TOBY LOWE, EUGENIE TEASLEY, CHAIR OF MILLFIELD HOUSE CEO, THE GOODALL FOUNDATION FOUNDATION WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS BENEFITS? WHAT HAS PAYING THE LIVING WAGE DONE FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

There are direct business 64% say it helps benefits for both your differentiate themselves organisation and for your from others in their industry. grantees. of consumers think that Paying the Living Wage can have 85% companies that can afford to do positive effects on staff wellbeing so should voluntarily pay the and team morale. Living Wage. Employers have told us it can mean increased productivity, reduced More than 80% of employers absenteeism, better believe that the Living Wage has and retention, improved quality of enhanced the quality of the work of work, and an increased consumer their staff, while absenteeism has awareness of an organisation’s fallen by approximately 25%. ethical credentials. 2/3 of employers report a significant impact on recruitment and retention within their organisation. WHY BECOME HOW DO I BECOME A A LIVING WAGE LIVING WAGE FUNDER?

SUPPORT FUNDER? BECOME AN FUND GRANT GRANTEES ACCREDITED FUNDED POSTS TO BECOME LIVING WAGE AT THE LIVING LIVING WAGE EMPLOYER WAGE RATE EMPLOYERS Across the UK 1 in 5 workers (21%) – 5.5 million people – earn less than a real Living In-work poverty outstrips Wage, calculated according to poverty in workless 1. BECOME AN ACCREDITED 3. SUPPORT GRANTEES the cost of living. households. LIVING WAGE EMPLOYER TO BECOME LIVING WAGE EMPLOYERS Celebrate your accreditation as a Living Wage Employer. We can Work with the Living Wage And yet less than 1% of provide a pack of tips and ideas. Foundation to promote Living Wage Across the sector of UK charities have become 26% accreditation among grantees. You charity workers earn less than accredited Living Wage may like to: Employers. the Living Wage. 2. FUND GRANT FUNDED POSTS AT THE LIVING WAGE Set a target for how many grantees RATE you would like to help towards becoming accredited Living Wage 30% of women in the When third sector Include your commitment to employers. charity sector earn less than organisaions become supporting Living Wage applications Include your commitment accredited, on average they in your application guidance the Living Wage, compared to to the Living Wage in regular move eight people up to the documents. Let applicants know 21% of men. communications with grantees. Living Wage. In the third sector, that if are below the Living the greatest impact is on Wage then you are keen to help to Run a workshop for your grantees. parttime in-house staff. find a way to make this possible. The Living Wage Foundation can We can provide some template provide materials to help facilitate language for you to use. sharing your commitment with these organisations. Add a term of grant to your agreements with grantees. A sample term of grant that you might like to consider is included in the FAQs.

www.livingwage.org.uk/how-become-friendly-funder WHAT FAQS IS IMPACT

MONITORING? What if organisations we fund feel How can we ensure that Living that they can’t take up the Living Wage is paid? Wage? One way to do this is to include it as a term Living Wage Funders There are some circumstances under of grant in your grant contract. A sample report once a year on take-up of which this may arise. Some of the options Term of Grant is below. available are to: agree that the Living the Living Wage across grantees. We would like you to increase the hourly Wage increase is applied across a number rate of the worker so that the post is paid Every May Living Wage of posts in the organisation, to support at a Living Wage rate. We are a Living Wage the organisation to provide an uplift to Funders tell us how many of their Employer and Friendly Funder, which means a number of people, or you may you may grantees have moved towards the that we would like to see a Living Wage in Living Wage over the past year. decide that you will exempt a particular place for the posts we fund. If increasing the organisation. in this way is problematic for your We provide materials to support organisation/group e.g. because it will be What if I would like to adopt the funders to gather this information unfair on other team members and/or we Living Wage Funder principles but are funding only part of a full-time post, and we work flexibly with different cannot afford to types of funders to adjust to your do this for all funded projects please discuss this with us. Please note that systems. immediately? the grant amount has been increased to This does not stop you applying for the reflect this change. Living Wage Funder badge. We will work Don’t see the information you need here? with you to agree a timescale by which Visit the FAQs page on our website for you will be applying the Living Wage to all more information: UK-funded posts. “THROUGH MAKING SMALL CHANGES www.livingwage.org.uk/faqs TO OUR OWN PROCESSES, POLICIES What if we part-fund posts? AND ACTIVITIES AND BEING A LIVING If you part-fund posts, you have two WAGE FRIENDLY FUNDER WE HOPE TO options. You can either: ACCELERATE THE MOVEMENT TOWARDS a) decide that you will simply pay the DECENT INCOMES FOR ALL.” Living Wage on the part of the post you are funding, or DEBBIE PIPPARD b) choose to pay the Living Wage on the HEAD OF PROGRAMMES, part you fund and pay the BARROW CADBURY TRUST differential from current to Living Wage on the part you don’t fund. Living Wage Foundation 136 Cavell St London E1 2JA 020 7043 9881 www.livingwage.org.uk @LivingWageUK Citzens UK Charity no. 1107264 Powered by: