Member Article

Vernon Building Society receives accreditation as a Living Wage Employer during Living Wage Week

Vernon Building Society has been accredited as a Living Wage Employer. Their Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at the Vernon receive a minimum hourly wage of £12, higher than the government minimum for over 23s, which currently stands at £10.42 per hour. The accreditation has been announced during Living Wage Week.

Vernon Building Society is based in Stockport, within the North West, where 12.5% of all jobs pay less than the Real Living Wage - around 367,000 jobs. Despite this, Vernon has committed to pay the Real Living Wage and deliver a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.

This accreditation signifies a wider commitment from Vernon Building Society to become an employer of choice. The building society, which celebrates turning one hundred next year, has been benchmarking salaries as part of the BSA Benchmarking Survey for four years. This enables Vernon to compare salaries with over twenty other building societies and ensure the wages are in line with others from the sector. This data is shared with staff for transparency. The Real Living Wage initiative has seen the lowest paid staff, such as cleaners, benefit from an increase in salary.

Judith Aspin, FD at Vernon Building Society says: “Paying the Real Living Wage is not only the right thing to do, but it makes good business sense. Vernon Building Society has been benchmarking our salaries for the past four years as part of our commitment to fair pay, and it’s resulted in higher job satisfaction amongst staff, and it helps us recruit the brightest talent.

“Vernon is a firm supporter of the Real Living Wage. We ask all suppliers and contractors to check if they are paying the Real Living Wage, and during Living Wage Week I encourage other businesses to do the same.”

The Real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum. Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 460,000 people and put £3 billion extra into the pockets of low paid workers.

Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: “We’re delighted that Vernon Building Society has joined the movement of over 14,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.

“They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the Real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like the Vernon, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sarah Smith .