Publish date: 26 January 2023
West London NHS Trust has been accredited as a Living Wage Employer.
The Trust's Living Wage commitment will see that everyone working at Trust sites in London receives a minimum hourly wage of £11.95, which is significantly higher than the Government minimum for over 23s, which currently stands at £9.50 per hour.
The majority of Trust sites are based in the capital, where nearly a fifth of all jobs (17.2%) pay less than the real Living Wage - around 700,000 jobs.
Despite this, the Trust is committed to pay the real Living Wage and deliver a fair day's pay for a hard day's work.
Nina Singh, Chief People Officer at West London NHS Trust, said: "We're committed to supporting staff with their financial wellbeing during the cost of living crisis."
In 2022, Executive Directors at West London NHS Trust approved a motion to put forward an application to become a Living Wage accredited employer.
The Trust submitted its application in December 2022 and through its collaboration with the Living Wage Foundation has been able to meet all requirements needed.
The Trust operates from a number of sites and those outside of London have been measured against the national Living Wage.
For example, staff who work at Broadmoor Hospital in Crowthorne will be paid a minimum hourly wage of £10.90 per hour.
The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the Government minimum. Since 2011, the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to almost 400,000 people and put over £2 billion extra into the pockets of low paid workers.
The Trust does not have any substantive staff that fall below the appropriate Living Wage for the site they're based on. It now has three years to bring any third party contracted staff over to the Living Wage rates of pay.
Katherine Chapman, Director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: "We're delighted that West London NHS Trust has joined the movement of almost 11,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the Government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.
"They join thousands of small businesses as well as household names such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like West London NHS Trust, believe that a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay."