Glenrothes is setting its sights on becoming the first Living Wage Town in the UK
Agroup of employers has launched an action which aims to make Glenrothes a better place to work.
As part of Living Wage Scotland’s Making Living Wage Places scheme, local businesses and employers in Glenrothes are being encouraged to pay employees the real Living Wage and become accredited as a Living Wage employer.
If successful, Glenrothes will become the first place in the UK to become a Living Wage Town via this new, place-based approach.
Currently, 11 of Fife’s accredited Living Wage employers are based in Glenrothes, and together employ the equivalent of 12% of the Fife region’s workforce. As it stands, Fife Council is the largest Living Wage employer based in Glenrothes.
In addition, 64 Fife employers have already voluntarily committed to ensure all their staff and subcontracted staff earn a real Living Wage of £9.00 an hour, higher than the government minimum of £8.21.
To bring these numbers up, the group is seeking to triple the number of employers accredited in the town in the first year, and will offer small grants to help local businesses achieve Living Wage accreditation.
The group also intend to prioritise its engagement with the care, construction, and manufacturing industries in Glenrothes.
Councillor Fiona Grant, a member of the group, said: “This launch marks the end of the beginning in as much as we now have the right folk round the table and an agreed action plan.
"It also marks the beginning of the actual campaign to start discussions with every employer out there to consider why they don’t currently pay the hourly rate considered to be necessary for a decent standard of living. Different employers have different challenges but the steering group will look to support each and every one of them towards gaining Living Wage accreditation”.
Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, who host Living Wage Scotland, said: “The commitment of this alliance of employers to the people of Glenrothes is very exciting. We look forward to working with them on making Glenrothes a Living Wage Town.
"Key employers working together will play an important role in ending low pay in Scotland, so today’s announcement should act as inspiration for towns and cities across the country.”
