KR HR & TRAINING NEWS ARTICLES

Are your team members due a pay rise?

Many employers will be reviewing salary rates after the real living wage increased 10% from £10.90 to £12 per hour (or £13.15 per hour in London) on 24th October 2023. This jump reflects ongoing challenges regarding the cost of living.

This makes an annual salary of £23,400 for a 37.5 hour week or £24,960 if you’re on a 40-hour a week contract (outside London).

Employers who have signed up to the real Living Wage Foundation have until 1st May 2024 to put the increase into effect.

The voluntary real Living Wage is the only pay rate based on the actual cost of living. Recent polling of those earning below the real Living Wage found that 60% have visited a food bank in the past year and 39% regularly skip meals for financial reasons.

Even if your organisation has not formally signed up to this scheme, it’s worth thinking about how your pay rates measure up. The increase to the real Living Wage may still impact your business in the following ways:

• Recruitment and retention challenges
• Difficulty securing tenders with organisations who are Real Living Wage scheme members who need to vet their supply chain
• Negative impact on health and wellbeing of team members struggling to make ends meet, impacting attendance, morale and productivity

The real Living Wage is set by the Living Wage Foundation and not to be confused with the statutory national Living Wage, which is the top tier of the minimum wage rates for people aged 23+. These rates are available on the government website.

We know it can be challenging for employers to keep pace with wage inflation. Our team can support with:

• Salary benchmarking
• Real living wage accreditation process
• Reviewing wider employee benefits, recognition and retention strategies
• Identifying ways to stretch staffing budgets, for example utilising salary sacrifice options

Contact us for further information or to talk through your next steps.