Tim Proctor, HSEQ & CR Director for ISS UK & Ireland blogs about what the Living Wage means to ISS this Living Wage Week.
- Iss UK & Ireland have been strong founding partners of the Recognised Service Provider Scheme.
- Tim is a key member of our Service Providers Leadership Group at the Living Wage Foundation.
ISS is proud to be associated with Living Wage Week across the UK and celebrates all activities and events that mark the new independently-calculated UK and London Living Wage rates in place across the country.
Living Wage Week provides us - as proud Recognised Service Providers - alongside all Living Wage employers and supporters, with the opportunity to reflect on our achievements to date and celebrate our roles in driving up the incomes of those at the lower end of the pay scale. Although in the past year we have seen the new National Living Wage (effectively a new higher minimum wage rate for those over 25 years old) introduced by the Government, we continue to applaud and support the Living Wage Foundation for its work. Along with the Resolution Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and others, the Foundation regularly calculates a higher hourly rate that enables workers to earn a 'real' Living Wage.
The Living Wage Service Providers Group has, since formed, supported the campaign for the Living Wage for the cost of living. Recognised Living Wage Service Providers (i.e. formally recognised by the Living Wage Foundation) will continue to pay the real Living Wage to employees working on our own sites and to always supply a Living Wage bid option alongside every market rate submittal to all current and prospective clients. This means the client always has the choice to implement the Living Wage at the point of tender.
As Service Providers, the Facilities Management sector is responsible for employing a sizable proportion of the working population - estimated at approximately 10% of the UK working population in 2015 by the British Institute of FM (BIFM) - which places us in a gifted position to help to influence pay levels. We are proud that we have worked with a number of our clients to move our staff working for them onto the real Living Wage.
The business benefits of paying the Living Wage to our staff are clear and the Living Wage Foundation continues to generate excellent research showcasing these benefits, along with the associated advantages that come with an improved standard of living. For ISS, it drives engagement and motivation among our employees, leading them to stay with us to grow and develop their careers. It also helps to build stronger relationships with our clients who recognise the importance of this agenda and want to make a difference in their own operations and communities.
We look forward to continuing to champion the agenda for a real Living Wage throughout Living Wage Week and into 2017. We hope to recruit new members to The Living Wage Service Providers Group and raise awareness across the FM sector. By ensuring the best possible working environment for our people, in turn we as a sector are in a position to drive quantifiable, positive business benefits.
Learn more about our Recognised Service Providers here