Living wage rise: Almost 50 city council employees will see their pay rise in the New Year after the authority approved a living wage increase.
Almost 50 City of Lincoln Council employees will see their pay rise in the New Year after the authority approved a living wage increase.
The council became an accredited member of the Living Wage Foundation in October 2013 and has since implemented the annual increases for its 48 members of staff currently affected.
Different to the National Minimum Wage, the living wage is an optional rate and calculated on covering the basic costs of living.
In November, it was announced this would rise from £7.85 per hour outside of London to £8.25 an hour.
The rise was approved by the council’s Executive on Monday, December 14, and the affected staff will see their pay rise from January next year.
A report in November by audit, tax and advisory service KPMG revealed that at least 70,000 working people in Lincolnshire are earning below the living wage.
Councillor Ric Metcalfe, leader of the council, said: “We first adopted the living wage two years ago as we believed it was the fairest way to pay staff for their hard work.
“One of our priorities is to grow the local economy and by paying staff this way it gives them more of a disposable income that research has shown is spent locally.
“Another of our aims is to protect the poorest people in the city and the living wage is considered to be at a level to provide a decent standard of living.
“We are committed to maintaining our living wage accreditation and are one of the partners of Lincoln Living Wage Forum, encouraging other businesses and organisations to reward staff this way.”
City of Lincoln Council Leader Ric Metcalfe.
Lincoln Living Wage Forum is currently running a ‘Making Lincoln Living Wage’ campaign, which includes a three-star accreditation scheme and an online register.
The ratings work as:
More information on the accreditation scheme can be found on the Lincoln Against Poverty website.
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