Proud to be a living wage employer

This week (2 – 8 November 2014) is National Living Wage Week a UK-wide celebration of the Living Wage and Living Wage Employers.

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is proud to be a ‘Living Wage Employer’ and to play its part in making York a fairer city for its residents.

Since April 2014, 630 staff across the whole Trust, including Porters, Catering, Domestic and Health Care Assistants have been paid the National Living Wage. 

Patrick Crowley, Chief Executive, said: “Adopting the Living Wage forms part of our aim to be an employer of choice in all the communities that we provide services for, and despite the significant additional cost, overall it was felt strongly to be the right thing to do. 

“We are proud to play our part in continuing the City of York’s long history of socially responsible employers who endeavour to improve the quality of life for their workers.”

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs more than 8,500 staff working across York, North Yorkshire, North East Yorkshire and Ryedale.

The living wage is a voluntary scheme designed to encourage employers to raise the pay of those on the lowest incomes, to ensure that it covers the basic cost of living in the UK.  The hourly rate is set independently and updated annually and at £7.65 per hour (for those outside London) it currently exceeds the statutory minimum wage of £6.31 per hour.

Employers can opt to pay the rate voluntarily. The Board of Directors at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust agreed to implement The Living Wage for the financial year 2014/15, reviewing it on an annual basis.

This means that all employees whose pay was below £7.65 per hour received a pay rise to ‘top up’ their pay from 1 May 2014. The Living Wage also applies to all new employees who join the trust.

Carol Popplestone, Staffside Chair, which represents the Trade Unions said: “We are very pleased that the Board made the decision to implement the living wage. This demonstrates their recognition of the hard work of staff who work in ancillary roles.”

“The Trust works hard to achieve partnership working and the implementation of the living wage is one recognition of that.”

07 November 2014