Living Wage

(asked on 20th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the GMB Union April 2020 statistics citing that 3 million key workers do not earn the Real Living Wage; and if he will take steps to ensure that all key workers earn the Real Living Wage as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 8th June 2020

This Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) the Government protects the lowest paid workers and ensures they are fairly rewarded for their contribution to the economy.

The NMW and NLW rates are legal minimum thresholds. These are different from the Living Wage, which is a voluntary minimum rate of pay. The Government commends the work of the Living Wage Foundation and those employers who commit to paying the voluntary Living Wage when they can afford to do so.

A substantial number of key workers are paid at or just above the National Minimum Wage. It is right that we support these workers as they are supporting the country during this crisis. This is why the Government 2020 increased the National Living Wage on 1 April.

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