Dundee Science Centre has become accredited as a Living Wage employer. This commitment will see everyone working at Dundee Science Centre receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.50.
This announcement comes during Challenge Poverty Week (4th– 10th October). This Scotland-wide campaign raises awareness of the fact that too many people are living in poverty and highlights what is being done to tackle the problem.
Dundee Science Centre joins over 90 accredited Living Wage employers in Dundee City who are leading the way in the drive to ensure the local community and economy enjoys the benefits realised by the real Living Wage. As the hospitality and tourism sector begins to reopen, Living Wage accreditation can help businesses recover by attracting and retaining staff and customers.
Having gained the Living Wage Accreditation earlier this year, Dundee Science Centre has now been shortlisted as a Finalist in the Living Wage Scotland Awards 2021 (Resilience category).
In addition to paying the real Living Wage, Dundee Science Centre supports the local community by donating café stock to local food banks and charities and donating commercial grade fridges, freezers, prep food stations and ovens to support local community projects.
Summer 2021 also saw the launch of the first ever Dundee Science Centre STEM summer club in conjunction with University of Dundee. The club was open to children referred by local community groups and children of University of Dundee staff members and postgraduate students who faced serious challenges maintaining research momentum due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Not forgetting its own workforce, 80% of whom were furloughed, Dundee Science Centre provided extensive wellbeing support and online training and development programmes for its team, safeguarding all jobs in the process.
Councillor Lynne Short, Fairness and Equalities Spokesperson said: “It’s great to welcome another employer in the city joining the growing Living Wage family in Dundee.
“This announcement comes during Challenge Poverty Week, a week dedicated to tackling poverty and to promote positive action that can be taken to help get people out of poverty.
“Paying the real Living Wage is just one example of the way businesses can act to make lives better for their employees. Workers in the city need jobs that meet their everyday day needs, ensure that food is on the table, and that they get to thrive in life, and paying the real Living Wage goes a long way to achieve this.
“I’m delighted that Dundee Science Centre are making this choice and that even more workers in Dundee are getting a fair wage for a fair day’s work.”
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. Right now, is when standing by these values matters the most and employers who do right by workers and families are the ones that will help lead us out of this crisis.
Lorraine Lemon, Head of Business and Operations – Dundee Science Centre, said:
“2021 was a landmark year for us as we marked our 21st birthday. We re-developed our facilities, exhibitions and outdoor areas to become even more accessible and inclusive for a wide range of audiences. While supporting and welcoming a growing number of external audiences, we were also eager to acknowledge the wonderful work and dedication of our team and underline our commitment to fairness and equality.
“We passionately believe in providing an excellent, inclusive working environment and are incredibly proud to become a Living Wage Employer, demonstrating our commitment despite a difficult financial year. Having protected all jobs throughout the pandemic with no redundancies and provided a wellbeing support programme for all staff when the centre re-opened, we are thrilled to also now be shortlisted as a Finalist in the Living Wage Scotland Awards 2021 (Resilience category).”
In 2019, Dundee became the first UK place 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.
Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance said:
“The Living Wage accreditation of Dundee Science Centre is a signal of their commitment to raise awareness of the importance of the real Living Wage and helps set the standard for businesses in Dundee.
“Workers need a wage that meets their everyday needs, but too many workers in Dundee and across Scotland are locked into poverty.”
“I hope that more follow the lead of Dundee Science Centre and join the growing movement of businesses and organisations that are going further to ensure workers and their families have what they need to thrive.”
Lynn Anderson, Living Wage Scotland Manager said:
“We are delighted to welcome Dundee Science Centre to the Living Wage movement.
“We are a movement of over 2000 Scottish employers who together want to go further than the government minimum to make sure that everyone can earn a decent standard of living and families have what they need to thrive. Our network in Dundee includes a range of employers from Discovery Credit Union to D.C. Thomson.
“Employers like Dundee Science Centre are helping to set the standard for business 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.”