As a Living Wage Employer, Little Red Rooster is happy to mark Living Wage Week, but we also fiercely believe – especially in today’s economic climate – it should be just one factor considered by a socially responsible business.
2023’s Living Wage Week falls a fortnight after the government announced updates to the UK Living Wage; a reflection of rising mortgage rates, rents, and energy and food costs, which remain at an all-time high. Paying the real Living Wage is more important than ever.
Despite a tough economic backdrop, over the past year the Living Wage movement has seen a record number of employers sign up – a positive sign. Half of FTSE 100 businesses are accredited Living Wage employers, alongside household names such as Nationwide, Google and Chelsea FC and, indeed, yours truly – Little Red Rooster.
But the Living Wage is just the beginning. Here at Little Red Rooster, we also benchmark salaries against both PR Week and recruitment agency data, and match London level as a minimum (because the cost of living squeeze goes way beyond our capital).
Paying our employees the Living Wage and then benchmarking beyond that is just one of the ways LRR recognises the importance of rewarding our hard-working team and forms a crucial part of our B Corp policy. While many may automatically think a B Corp business is solely about being ‘green’ and ‘eco’, what it really means is being completely transparent in the way you run and operate your business – and the rewards and benefits offered to employees are central to this.
For one, we are proud to offer paid graduate placement programmes, offering a graduate the chance to hone their skills within a fast-paced PR environment over the course of a year-long placement – for fair and decent pay. We all know and understand getting a foot in the door is particularly tough for today’s crop of graduates, and we have long recognised the value interns and graduates play within the Coop (many of our current senior team started their careers as interns many moons ago). Plus, all expenses are paid on a weekly basis, to ensure our team are never out of pocket; another crucial consideration given the current state of affairs.
We are also committed to promoting diversity within our workplace; we have partnered with the Taylor Bennett Foundation to attract talent from minority backgrounds, and we were one of the first businesses to take the Design for Diversity pledge – a campaign spearheaded by interiors journalist Kate Watson-Smyth and interior designer Rukmini Patel to encourage greater diversity amongst the interiors and design industry. Coupled with an excellent benefits programme (unlimited holiday, gym/spa membership, enhanced maternity/paternity packages, flexible working for working parents and private healthcare, to name a few), it’s no surprise we earnt an impressive ‘team’ rating of 35.2 within our B Corp report – way above the UK average of 24!
Of course, this is all well and good – but there is still work to be done. While the Minimum and National Wage are statutory across the board, paying your workforce what is known as the Real Living Wage is voluntary. We need more employers to recognise the benefits of paying the Real Living Wage. 87% of employers noted it improved their reputation; 66% say it helped differentiate themselves from competitors in the industry; while 62% believe it helped the recruitment process. Above all, people want to work for, work with, and buy from a Living Wage employer, so it just makes business sense.
We’re really proud to be one of the 14,000 businesses dedicated to paying the Real Living Wage and remain committed to supporting our team through these challenging times.
