Dr Krishanthi Vithana, Professor Yehuda Baruch and Professor Collins Ntim
The UK’s initiative on advocating the real living wage (RLW) among employers via the Living Wage Foundation (LWF) accreditation programme that advocates paying employees a wage sufficient to live a decent life has become a successful national move with the potential to generate impact across the globe going forward, particularly in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
While it is perceived as ‘the right thing to do’, paying employees the RLW also provides a variety of benefits to the investors and their clients, employers, employees and society in general.
At present, paying the RLW instead of the national minimum wage or the national living wage is a voluntary commitment promoted by nongovernmental organisations and investment management firms. In the UK, the LWF has taken a lead in promoting the living wage among the UK employers through the living wage accreditation programmes. These run in collaboration with the investment community and living wage campaigners from NGOs.
As of March 2019, following a decade of successful work, the LWF has accredited more than 5000 employers. This accounts for more than 30% of the FTSE 100 firms and 15% of the FTSE 350 firms listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
This project is a joint initiative between the University of Southampton Business School, the Global Responsible Investment team of Aviva Investors and the Living Wage Foundation.
