The grantmaking community health charity, People’s Health Trust, announced today it will build a living wage requirement into all future funding applications.
John Hume, chief executive of the People’s Health Trust, told Civil Society News: “This is an approach we have been piloting over the last year to ensure that it is practical for charities and community groups.
“When we receive funding applications where people don’t pay the living wage, then we go back and ask them to do that and we’ve been testing that to make sure it’s not a problem for organisations.
“But it hasn’t been a problem and we are now working to roll that out. So every single post that we are funding through every grant, will be a living wage post.
“We're very happy to make it an official part of our grantmaking strategy."
The People's Health Trust is the charity that distributes money raised by 51 society lotteries through Richard Desmond’s Health Lottery.
Last week, the Living Wage Foundation announced a new recommended hourly rate of £7.85 – an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2013 and 21 per cent higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50 per hour.
The new rate will affect the lives of 35,000 low-paid workers across the UK who are employed by living wage employees, according to the People’s Health Trust.
Over 1,000 organisations in the UK are accredited as living wage employers. The rate is set every year and is calculated based on the cost of living.
Rhys Moore, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “As the recovery continues it’s vital that the proceeds of growth are properly shared. It’s not enough to simply hope for the best. It will take concerted action by employers, government and civil society to raise the wages of the five million workers who earn less than the living wage.
“The number of accredited living wage employers has more than doubled this year – over 1,000 employers across the UK have signed up. In the last 12 months the number of living wage employers in the FSTE 100 has risen from four to 18 including Canary Wharf Group and Standard Life."
The living wage rate for London is currently set at £9.15 per hour. The pay of workers who earn less than the living wage is often topped up the taxpayer through additional benefits.
"Low pay costs the taxpayer money – firms that pay the minimum wage are seeing their workers’ pay topped up through the benefits system. So it’s right that we recognise and celebrate those employers who are voluntarily signing up to the higher living wage, and saving the taxpayer money in the process,” said Moore.
