London Living Wage Goes Up Again - Major FM Companies Join In With Boris' Plan

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• London Living Wage Goes Up Again - Major FM Companies Join In With Boris' Plan

04 November 2013 | Updated 01 January 1970

The London Living Wage has taken another increase, alongside the National Living Wage (up 20p to £7.65). The Living Wage in London now stands at £8.80 an hour.

The minimum wage currently stands at £6.31 per hour. 214 major employers voluntarily agree to the rate, including some major FM providers in the Capital. Ninety more companies are due to join the scheme in the coming months.

The announcement was made by London Mayor Boris Johnson, who is forcing through the initiative, at the start of Living Wage Week.

And to mark Living Wage Week, ISS, Facilicom, Not Just Cleaning and Enhance have confirmed their commitment to the principles of responsible pay, by being the first in the Facilities and Business Services sector to sign up to a Service Provider Accreditation contract with the Living Wage Foundation.

A spokesperson for ISS said: “It is a stance that not only cements the coalition partners’ position as ethical employers but also aligns to the approach and values of many key customers including PwC, BlackRock Tube Lines and KPMG.”

New research commissioned by KPMG, highlights the need for wider take-up of the Living Wage if more people are to earn a basic standard of living. Guy Stallard, Head of Facilities at KMPG explained the importance of working with suppliers who share their philosophy:

“KPMG’s implementation of the Living Wage in 2006 has been a great success with increased quality of service and higher levels of productivity and flexibility. We have implemented this in a cost-neutral way thanks to the engagement of our facilities suppliers. It is really important for KPMG to work with suppliers who are forward thinking and respect their employees.”

As a voluntary commitment, the coalition partners pledge to encourage landlords, customers and suppliers to adopt a fair wage approach. To this end, in addition to paying a Living Wage for all support staff employed on their estates, the partners include a Living Wage option in all tender submissions.

These are the minimum conditions of being an accredited service provider and, essentially, they mean that accredited partners meet the usual Living Wage criteria, bar where their services and pay rates are determined by the market.

Richard Sykes, Chief Executive Officer, ISS UK and Ireland said: “Formalising our commitment to the Living Wage is a pioneering step for our industry and I sincerely hope others in the FM sector will follow our lead. As a responsible and progressive business, paying a Living Wage makes sense on every level, and it feels good to be doing business the right way”.

Sandy Aird, MD of Enhance Office Cleaning expressed a similar view: “After a campaign to get all Enhance staff onto the Living Wage in 2010, the vast majority of our clients agreed and now support this. The Living Wage Service Provider Accreditation recognises our continuous promotion of fair pay for cleaners.”

“The launch of the Service Provider Accreditation is the culmination of a two-year long association for Facilicom with the Living Wage Campaign” explained Phil Smith, Commercial Director of Facilicom. ”With so many thousands of service sector colleagues currently in receipt of low pay we are delighted to stand alongside our partners in driving a process that will significantly raise pay, enhance individual and family well-being, and deliver true social sustainability.”

Paul Crilly, MD of Not Just Cleaning told ThisWeekinFM: “NJC recognises that it is our people that are the key to our business success. NJC is immensely proud to be in the vanguard of support services companies to pay its employees the Living Wage. Our people are our greatest assets and this accreditation demonstrates our commitment as an employer of choice and that we value our colleagues very highly and we’re willing to pay them at a level which demonstrates our commitment to sustainable remuneration.  We believe there is a compelling business case as well as a moral one for paying the living wage.”

www.livingwage.org.uk

On the 23^rd of October, ThisWeekinFM reported that the the City of London Corporation had agreed to supplement ten existing corporate cleaning and catering services contracts to bring them in line with the London Living Wage (LLW). The agreements cover cleaners and catering employees at iconic sites including the Central Criminal Court, Barbican, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, City of London Police, Guildhall and also various schools.

The changes to the five revised cleaning contracts, delivered by ISS, Sodexo and Mitie, came into effect immediately after elected members decided to adopt the LLW ahead of the scheduled renewal date in August 2014.

The extra annual cost of implementing the LLW across them is in the order of £812,000. Separately, five catering contracts, delivered by ISS, Sodexo, Aramark, Holroydhowe and Brookwood, will be revised in line with the LLW and backdated to 1 September 2013 – the date they originally commenced. This will come at an additional cost of £117,700 per annum.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 04 November 2013

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