Accredited living wage employers increase hourly pay rate to £8.75

Accredited living wage employers in Scotland have committed to giving staff a pay rise to £8.75 per hour.

The 30p increase is to keep in line with inflation and will ensure that pay “keeps pace with the real cost of living over the next year”, the Living Wage Foundation said.

It will be paid by thousands of companies across the UK.

However, research has found 404,000 employees in Scotland (18 per cent) are still paid less than the living wage.

Foundation director Katherine Chapman said: “Great Scottish businesses know that, 0 Keith Brown said he wanted more businesses to follow suit even during these tough times, not only is fair pay the right thing to do but paying the real living wage brings big benefits.

“Nine out of ten accredited living wage employers report real benefits including improved retention, reputa- tion, recruitment and staff motivation.”

Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, said: “Scotland remains the best-performing of all four UK countries with the highest proportion of employees paid the living wage or more.

“This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to our work promoting the Scottish Government’s fair work agenda and putting equality at the heart of our labour market. I want to encourage more businesses and organisationsfromaroundscotland to recognise the benefits of paying the living wage.”