Mansfield District Council has been accredited as a Living Wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation.

The commitment to pay the Living Wage will ensure that all staff working for the Council, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third party contractors and suppliers, will receive a minimum hourly wage of £7.65. The national minimum wage currently stands at £6.50 per hour.

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, based on the cost of living in the UK using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’, which looks at what people need to make ends meet.

The figure is set by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University and employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis.

Ruth Marlow, Managing Director of Mansfield District Council said: “We are delighted to have been accredited as a Living Wage employer. The Living Wage reflects the real cost of living and brings benefits to both our staff and the Local Authority as a whole, ensuring that people can provide for their families.

“In supporting a motion to work towards achieving accreditation, members of Mansfield District Council hope that other employers across Mansfield will follow our example and recognise the benefits that paying the Living Wage can bring to their staff and their businesses.”

The Living Wage Foundation believes that being a Living Wage employer brings benefits through the heightened moral, motivation and retention of staff. The Living Wage campaign has been running for ten years in the UK and has lifted over 45,000 people out of poverty.

For more information, visit www.livingwage.org.uk