Paying the Living Wage can bring significant business benefits, such as increased productivity, decreased absenteeism and innovation in the work place but equally importantly it can be a key tool to address inequality.
A survey by Business for Scotland showed the vast majority of members supported the Living Wage: 96% of members surveyed supported paying the Living Wage, and 132 or 75% of the employers who responded currently pay the Living Wage or higher. And just last week the 300th Scottish business was accredited as a LW employer.
Business for Scotland held an event in Glasgow to showcase the business benefits of paying the Living Wage, for employers. Business leaders spoke of increased productivity and loyalty they had received from employees, and employees explained how they felt motivated and supported by employers who paid them the Living Wage.
You can watch the video here.
The benefits to employers, employees and society as a whole are considerable:
Employers:
- 25% fall in absenteeism.
- 80% of employers believe the LW has enhanced the quality of the work of their staff.
- 66% of employers reported a significant impact on recruitment and retention within their organisation.
- 70% of employers felt that the LW had increased consumer awareness of their organisation’s commitment to be an ethical employer.
Employees:
- Those receiving the Living Wage can afford a decent quality of life.
- For some, it means working fewer hours and having time to see their families, time to volunteer in their communities, or time to look after their health.
- Those working in LW workplaces have better psychological wellbeing than those in non-LW workplaces.
- Two-thirds of people interviewed in LW workplaces reported improvements in either their work, family life or finances.
Society
- Paying workers a LW can also boost the local economy, by giving people more money to spend on goods and services.
- Increasing the income of workers can also reduce the need for in-work benefits such as housing benefit and working tax credits.
Business for Scotland – Prosperity for Scotland – Join us now
Further reading:
Paying the Living Wage makes good business sense
A Living Wage can drive workplace innovation in Scotland
Poll finds huge support (96%) for living wage amongst SMEs
oh aye.. brilliant wee article too. Well done!
Full of respect for the work you are doing not just for business for Scotland but for Scotland and the people who live here. Business for Scotland is as important as any of the other parts of the Independence movement. Not got enough praise for this organisation and I have no business, not a member. Would like to see this org put candidates forward for first past the post seats in Scotland to argue for business interests in parliament. We need business people who really care about the country and it’s people in parliament as well as land reformers, social democrats, socialists, environmentalists, nationalists. Sick of false arguments warping the debate.
Hi Gordie thanks for the feedback – we will not be putting candidates forward but rather lobbying existing political parties to implement more business friendly policies and have had some success getting the SNP to accept some of our suggestions for their 2015 manifesto. Although we are not tied to any political party most of our members who are bitten by the campaigning bug tend to gravitate towards the SNP as they are the lead pro indy party and several BfS members are now SNP MPS.
Great article Michelle. Would you be interested in having a chat about the challenges of paying the living wage where no one else in the same sector is???