THE lowest-paid staff at Oldham Council are to get a new minimum salary based on the National Living Wage from this month.
The local authority is implementing a new £7.86 minimum hourly rate – the current National Living Wage – for 540 employees, the majority in cleaning and catering posts.
This welcome boost will see an increase in salary for these full-time, full year employees by more than £800 a year.
These changes also apply to casual workers but do not include apprentices and trainees, who will continue to be paid the National Minimum Wage.
The living wage is an informal benchmark rather than a legally-enforceable minimum level of pay andaims to ensure workers earn enough to provide their family with the essentials in life.
Carolyn Wilkins, Chief Executive of Oldham Council, said: “This fulfils a long-standing commitment by the council to implement the National Living Wage.
“These staff play an important daily role in delivering our services. They deserve the respect of being paid a fair wage and this will also benefit the local economy.
“Our ambition is to have thriving businesses and committed staff which is why – alongside our Get Oldham Working campaign – we’re also actively continuing to encourage other local firms to support the living wage and other fairness measures by signing up to our Fair Employment Charter.”
The Living Wage for cities outside London is £7.85, set using the Centre for Research in Social Policy’s Minimum Income Standard since 2011.
The rate is evaluated and set in November each year and used by the Living Wage Foundation to accredit companies as Living Wage Employers.
Any firms wanting to find out more information about the Fair Employment Charter should contact Oldham Council by emailing fairemployment@oldham.gov.uk or calling 0161 770 1671.
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