The Living Wage Foundation is pleased to announce that National Grid, the electricity and gas energy company employing over 12,000 people in the UK, is now an accredited Living Wage employer.
The accreditation by the FTSE 100 listed company means that National Grid staff, including third party contractors working on their property, will receive at least the Living Wage rate of £7.85 an hour, or £9.15 if working in London; significantly more than the national minimum wage of £6.50 per hour, and more than the minimum wage premium for over 25s recently announced by the Chancellor, and set to be introduced in April 2016 at £7.20 per hour.
Rhys Moore, director, Living Wage Foundation said: "We are delighted to welcome National Grid to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer.
"As one of the UK's largest companies the decision by National Grid to go above and beyond paying the statutory minimums shows great leadership, and we hope many more organisations will follow their lead. More and more businesses, and increasingly customers, are recognising the Living Wage as a mark of responsible business. "Over 1,700 businesses are Living Wage employers, who reward a hard day's work with a fair day's pay."
The Living Wage is calculated each year by an independent body. It takes into account all the costs of living and is updated annually. It enjoys cross party support and there are now over 1,700 accredited organisations including companies such as Nationwide, Nestle and ITV.
John Pettigrew, Executive Director at National Grid said: "We already pay our employees above the Living Wage, but we also want to make sure that those that work on behalf of National Grid are rewarded appropriately. We hope to influence our vast supply chain so that the Living Wage is a compulsory element for all new contracts.
"This is an important principle for us, not just because it is the right thing to do but because as a responsible business, we believe that everyone should be appropriately rewarded for the vital work we do to safely and reliably connect people to the energy they use."
A recent poll by Nationwide, an accredited Living Wage employer and principal partner of the Living Wage Foundation, revealed that 87% of the public thought that those businesses that can, should pay the Living Wage and 58% would be more likely to use the goods and services of a company that paid its employees the Living Wage.