Living wage changes lives, helps firm
When Lorna MacDougall printed off her pay stub and found she’d been paid an extra $120 that week, she thought there must have been a mistake.
She’d been an office manager with Footwork Orthotics, a London company, for just more than a year and wasn’t expecting a $3-anhour raise.
But that’s what she got, taking her wage to more than $15 an hour. The unexpected raise from a boss who signed on to become a “living wage employer” has been life-changing for MacDougall and her partner, she says.
“Three dollars has made a huge impact. It has allowed us to move into the city,” said MacDougall, whose partner is on disability assistance of about $1,100 per month.
“We were living with her family (in Ingersoll) and I was driving an hour and a half every day ... It allowed us to move out and get our own place.”
Although they saved on rent by living with family, the couple was responsible for paying utilities and taxes and were “living paycheque to paycheque and watching every dollar,” said MacDougall.
“We were going without; we were not going out and doing anything. We just couldn’t afford it.”
Now they can, she said, adding that they worry less and therefore live better.
“When you give people a raise there’s a big difference, but to me the difference (in income) isn’t enough to change my lifestyle or to make or break me, But the little difference for them is three extra weeks’ pay at the end of the year,” said MacDougall’s employer Jeff Lewis.
His wife showed him a London Free Press article last May about London employers signing on to a living-wage initiative launched by the mayor’s advisory panel on poverty as a step toward reducing poverty in London.
Lewis realized more than a third of his employees were below the $15.53 hourly threshold needed to meet basic needs in London, according to researchers with the London Poverty Research Centre at King ’s University College. Some were making as little as $12.
“At the time, I thought, ‘Well, it’s more than minimum wage.’ Then I started looking at it and thought, ‘You can’t live off that.’”
“How do you cover a car payment, rent, groceries? How do you buy a gift for someone?” he said.
The median individual income in London in 2011 was $29,478 or $15.11 an hour, according to Statistics Canada. Ontario’s minimum wage rate is $11.25 an hour.
The living wage of $15.53 an hour was based on expenses for a typical family with two working parents and two children.
Lewis signed on to the initiative and gave raises to ensure all his employees make a living wage or more. They also receive benefits and profit-sharing.
Now, he’s one of 12 employers listed at livingwagelondon.ca. Others include big employers such as the London Health Sciences Centre, Trudell Medical International, Western Fair District, the Middlesex-London Health Unit, Libro Credit Union, and smaller players such as Ellipsis Digital, Web.isod.es and Neighbourhood Legal Services.
Lewis said he’s happy to hear the living wage is making a difference in their lives, but there’s been an unanticipated bonus.
“It’s amazing. People are much happier at work. I’ve noticed a big increase in staff morale and productivity. Right off the bat,” he said. “I was doing it more so because it seemed fair, but it’s like, ‘Wow.’”
Other employers say improved morale and productivity make the business case to take all wages up above $15.50 an hour.
“For us, it makes good business sense. At the end of the day it’s all about our people, and they need to be trained and motivated and proud and passionate about their work or we’ll struggle to compete,” said Hugh Mitchell, head of the Western Fair District.
“We’ve invested millions in our facilities and marketing campaigns, and we think it’s even more important to invest in our employees.”
As part of its strategic plan, the district is in the process of bringing everyone on its payroll up to a living wage level, and plans to reach that goal by June 2017, Mitchell said.