FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
A new toolkit has been published by the Living Wage Foundation, designed to help responsible employers within the service provision industry join the Living Wage network.
The real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate based on the cost of living, and is currently £13.15/hr in London, and £12/hr in the rest of the UK. For a full-time worker, the difference with the National Living Wage equates to just over £1,000 a year, going up to more than £3,000 a year for those based in London.
Service providers can be part of the network through either accrediting as a Living Wage Employer or signing up to the Recognised Service Provider scheme. Living Wage Employers commit to paying all members of staff at least the Living Wage, whilst Recognised Service Providers agree to pay all staff not tied to client contracts at least the Living Wage and promote the Living Wage to their clients.
There are 3.7 million jobs paid below the Living Wage in the UK, including hundreds of thousands in cleaning, security and facilities management.
The toolkit offers context around the Living Wage, both generally and within the service provision industry, including the benefits of the Living Wage to both employers and employees. It goes through the accreditation process with case studies from businesses who have already signed up, and answers some frequently asked questions. Finally, it highlights some further opportunities for working with the Living Wage Foundation to champion fair pay and good employment practices.
The Living Wage campaign began with cleaners organising and campaigning for fair pay at some of London’s major financial institutions, and cleaning remains a focus for the Living Wage Foundation. More than 200 UK cleaning companies are accredited Living Wage Employers, whilst the likes of Cleanology, ISS UK and Greenzone Cleaning & Support Services are signed up as Recognised Service Providers.
Phil Smith, Managing Director of Indigo Integrated FM and Chair of the Hill Club, who co-chairs the Living Wage Foundation’s Recognised Service Provider Leadership Group said: “Paying the Real Living Wage is absolutely vital for employee wellbeing, ensuring fair pay and reducing home life and financial stress. However, in the outsourced Facilities Management industry, it’s also business-critical, as these essential workers keep schools, hospitals and myriad other commercial environments operational. Fair wages attract and retain skilled staff, ensuring high service standards and business continuity across all of these vital sectors. Paying anything less, quite frankly, puts the security of our built environment in jeopardy!”
There are currently more than 15,000 Living Wage Employers across all industries, including the likes of Aviva, KPMG and Ikea, as well as 190 Recognised Service Providers, including Compass Group, Mitie, ISS UK, CBRE and Sodexo. A full list of Living Wage Employers can be found here, and a full list of Recognised Service Providers can be found here.
Frontline workers form the backbone of facilities management services, serving as the face of the brand and interacting directly with customers. Yet research by both L&G and the Living Wage Foundation reveals the majority feel overlooked and expendable.
Accelerating the problem is a growing technology gap. Despite having 2.7 billion deskless workers worldwide, representing 80 per cent of the global workforce, only one per cent of software and technology investments has been allocated to this segment. This means there is a huge disconnect between frontline workers and their headquarters, leading to lack of sufficient training, communication challenges and low employee retention.
For this webinar, FMJ has teamed up with frontline training platform Lingio to bring together a panel of experts, to discuss how easy-to-use and efficient AI tools can help create engaging and gamified learning experiences that fit the needs of underserved deskless workers. The result? Better software and learning experiences lead to improved staff engagement and reduced staff turnover by up to 95 per cent, according to McKinsey.
To register for the webinar taking place on 11 September at 11:00 am click here.
