HATTERS LEAD WAY ON LIVING WAGE
LUTON TOWN made history this week by becoming the first professional football club to adopt the Living Wage for all contracted members of staff.
The government set the minimum wage at £6.50 per hour for employees over the age of 21, but the Hatters have been paying their staff a minimum of £7.85 per hour since the start of the month.
That is the amount set by the Living Wage Foundation and is based on the amount needed to cover basic living, rising to £9.15 if in London.
Since the League Two club introduced the Living Wage, they have been followed by Chelsea – and Hatters chief executive Gary Sweet hopes the Premier League leaders are the first of many to follow in the footsteps.
Sweet said:“We are proud to be the first professional club in England to initiate on this front and lead by example.
“But to us it just felt like the right thing to do and, given the fact that the increase has cost us less than two per cent of our total player budget, it seems peculiar that we’re the first to action it.
“We’re hoping that in taking this step, we might help persuade other clubs, particularly those higher up the pyramid, to follow our lead.”