This in from Stewart Blackmore. Ed
Stewart Blackmore, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for the Isle of Wight, has called on Island employers to sign up to pay the Living Wage to their employees.
The latest figures show that a quarter of jobs on the Isle of Wight are paid at below the Living Wage, calculated at £7.65 an hour on the basis of the minimum needed to pay all outgoings.
Mr Blackmore said,
“The problems are particularly acute here. Over 60% of jobs in tourism and catering pay less than the Living Wage and a third of women workers on the Island are paid at below this rate. I would urge local employers, including the Isle of Wight Council, to become accredited as Living Wage employers so that their employees and their contractors pay this rate. The alternative is more children in poverty and working families forced to claim benefits.”
The Living Wage Foundation helps employers who wish to sign up through an accreditation process. Employers adopting the Living Wage have found absenteeism falling by 25%, better work from staff and staff retention improved.
Isle of Wight figures are from the House of Commons Library data. Survey of employers by GLA Economics
