Croydon Council has today been accredited as a London Living Wage employer.
The council’s administration made it one of its key election pledges in 2014 to introduce the London Living Wage across the council.
As Croydon’s largest employer, the council now wants to encourage other organisations in the borough to follow its lead and do the same.
This means that every council employee will be paid a minimum rate of £9.15 per hour. This is £2.65 per hour more than the National Minimum Wage. It is calculated as the amount people need to cover the basic costs of living.
The council has also made it a requirement for its contractors to pay staff the London Living Wage, which is now built into all new tenders.
It will be working with existing contractors to move over to London Living Wage in the next two years.
“We’re delighted that Croydon Council has been officially accredited as a London Living Wage employer.
“This was a clear political commitment by our administration, a process we started at one of the first cabinets we held, and it’s fantastic that we have now had confirmation of this
“However this is very much the beginning, as it is our ambition to see the London Living Wage rolled out across every company and organisation in our borough, as we have already seen with employers such as IKEA and Lidl.
“This council will lead by example, and we hope other employers follow us.”
Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the council
Living Wage Foundation Director, Rhys Moore said: “We are delighted to welcome Croydon Council to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer.
“The best employers are voluntarily signing up to pay the Living Wage now. The Living Wage is a robust calculation that reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay.
“We have accredited over 1,700 leading employers, including Croydon Council, ranging from independent printers, hairdressers and breweries, to well-known companies such as Nationwide, Aviva and SSE. These businesses recognise that clinging to the national minimum wage is not good for business. Customers expect better than that. “
