Going further and doing good, when you don’t have to, is essential to building a fair and just Scotland where everyone can lead a happy and productive life. Many of our Living Wage accredited employers are making a positive impact on our society and our planet by taking voluntary action. We want that action to inspire others to make fundamental changes to enhance lives and protect the environment.
Capella is a charity that operates Sleep Scotland, a service that supports health sleep, and Teens+ who help young adults with additional needs fulfil their potential.
The charity recently won Employer of the Year at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards and have a reputation for being an employee-focused organisation, making them an employer of choice within the health and social care field.
Capella has recently been celebrated for its free daily breakfasts and lunches scheme supporting its 125 staff across all sites during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The initiative was devised as part of the charity’s Wellbeing Strategy, and follows on from a £500 cost-of-living bonus paid at the beginning of 2023.
Gail Burden, CEO says: “At Capella, we always put people at the centre of our work; it’s one of the reasons we are an accredited Living Wage Employer. When we realised that the cost of living was impacting our staff, we looked for other practical ways to help. Offering free meals made sense as it meant staff who did not have the means or time to prepare food for themselves would still be eating a nutritious meal and could still share in the social experience that comes with sitting down with the rest of the team.”
Hadden Group are an award-winning construction and property development business based in Perth & Kinross and operating across Scotland. The company attribute their growth and success to their highly motivated and committed staff. They are proud of their open and honest communication with clients and apply this across the company.
Following a staff engagement survey, Hadden realised the need to review their working environment, more specifically working hours. They considered several business-critical factors and came to the conclusion that a 4 ½ day working week without compressing overall working hours would benefit employees.
Steven Brady, Managing Director says: “In the last decade or maybe even longer, there has been a societal drift towards better work/life balance for employees. We considered how we can best offer an improvement in this aspect to our employees whilst at the same time ensuring that we maintain the levels of output and quality in what we do. Could we do the same in less time was the question we posed to ourselves and the answer, we believe is, yes.”
Hadden Group have embarked on a six-month trial period which will see staff finishing at 1pm on a Friday allowing them more free time and a better work/life balance. We wish them well with the scheme!
Hyper Luminal Games is an indie games studio in Dundee whose mission is to make games better. To do this, they nurture and support their talented team in an environment that allows creativity to thrive.
To cushion the impact of the rising cost of living, Hyper Luminal introduced the new Living Wage rate of £10.90 earlier than they had to and are also giving staff an extra monthly payment to help. This way, the team can concentrate on creating high quality games and not worry about how to pay their bills. In addition to financial support, the company offer free food and beverages to their employees which is much appreciated as we see food prices rise at an unprecedented rate.
As well as flexible working, health benefits, and a cycle to work scheme, the team at Hyper are given paid “duvet days” because we all have those days don’t we! Support like this gives people the space and time to focus on what is important and the team at Hyper believe that giving back is fundamental to a fair society. The featured image shows some of the team at the Kiltwalk helping to raise funds for good causes.
Norsign are a team of signage specialists, from design to manufacture and installation. The company is based in Glasgow and works across the UK.
As the cost-of-living crisis began to bite, Norsign supported their employees by giving them all a cost-of-living payment, and at Christmas staff received a bonus as well as a food hamper. Alongside financial assistance, Norsign recognise that people are more resilient and better equipped to face challenges when they are emotionally and psychologically supported. They offer flexible working to enable a better work-life balance and a member of their team has received mental health training and now offers support to other employees.
Robert Mutton, Director says: “The work Living Wage Scotland does is so important to ensure employees are looked after correctly but also to encourage employers to go further. This can be shown in many ways such as free lunch when targets are met, allowing flexible working hours, paying overtime and just a thank you when things are done well can go a long way.”
Get in touch and tell us about the positive action you are taking that contributes to a more compassionate, inclusive and sustainable world. Have you introduced flexible working or a 4-day week? Do you offer free period products or free/subsidised meals? Do your leave policies include time off for birthdays or volunteering? Have you introduced an innovative environmental policy? Do you support local charities or engage in community work?