Dundee Law Centre has been accredited as a Living Wage employer. Their Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at DLW receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.90. This rate is significantly higher than the government minimum for over 23s, which currently stands at £8.91 per hour. Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis, recognising the value of their workers and ensuring that a hard day’s work receives a fair day’s pay.
In 2019, Dundee became the first place in the UK to achieve recognition for their ambitious plan to become a Living Wage City, a place-based approach to driving uptake of the real Living Wage by local businesses. This ambition is strengthened by today’s announcement.
DLC joins over 90 accredited Living Wage employers in Dundee City who are working to ensure the local community and economy enjoys the benefits of the real Living Wage.
In Scotland, more than 14% of all jobs pay less than the real Living Wage – around 330,000 jobs. Research earlier this year showed that 18.4% of workers in the third sector in Scotland are paid below the Living Wage. Despite this, DLC has committed to pay the real Living Wage and deliver a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.
Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 52,000 people in Scotland and put over £310 million extra into the pockets of low paid Scottish workers.
Chair of Dundee Law Centre, Marjory Stewart said:
“Dundee Law Centre is delighted to become an accredited Living Wage employer. Over the past 30 years the Law Centre has seen first-hand the effect poverty can have on the people living in Dundee. It is a multifaceted problem that can often be hidden, however, following the pandemic it has never been clearer that poverty can affect anyone. Paying people, a living wage is very much a beacon of what we stand for”
Fairness and Equalities spokesperson for Dundee City Council, Councillor Lynne Short said:
“I am particularly pleased to welcome another leading third sector employer into the Living Wage Family here in Dundee. The third sector know more than anyone of the social impact of paying the real Living Wage and the incredible benefits it has for their employees, I hope this announcement will encourage more third sector employers in the city to take the leap and commit to pay the real Living Wage.
This announcement really shows the breadth of support in Dundee for making it the first Living Wage City in the UK, there is a still a long way to go, but with Dundee Law Centre becoming accredited we are a step closer.”
Christine McCaig, Living Wage Projects Coordinator said:
“We are delighted to welcome DLC to our network of over 2400 Scottish employers who together want to go further than the government minimum. Our growing network in Dundee includes a range of employers from Dundee Industrial Heritage and Dundee Contemporary Arts to D.C. Thomson.
Employers like Dundee Law Centre are helping to set the standard for third sector employers in Scotland by making sure that workers have what they need to get by and we hope to see many more employers following their example.”