SSE has become accredited as a Living Pension Employer. Since becoming one of the UK’s first major employers to gain its Living Wage accreditation in 2013, SSE has taken an active role in promoting the principles of fair wages, including rolling the Living Wage out through its UK supply chain, paying the Living Wage in Ireland, and becoming one of the first companies in the UK to become a Living Hours employer.
A decade on, SSE’s commitment to the Living Wage remains steadfast and the Perth-based company has today now announced its commitment to being come a Living Pensions employer, which seeks to provide stability and security for workers now and into the future.
The announcement sees SSE become one of the first companies in the UK to achieve accreditation in all three of the Living Wage schemes – pensions, hours and wages – and it has called for other businesses who are able to join them.
The Living Pension is a voluntary savings target for employers who want to help workers, especially those on low pay, build a pension pot that will provide enough income to meet basic everyday needs in retirement. It launched in March 2023.
The Living Pension savings target is 12% of a full-time Living Wage worker’s salary, of which the employer pays in at least 7%. This builds on auto-enrolment, where the employer is only required to contribute 3%. The Living Pension savings target can also be implemented as a cash amount of £2,550 a year. The employer contributes at least £1,488 to this cash amount.
Frazer Thompson, Head of Pensions at SSE plc, said:
“The Living Pension accreditation recognises that our current pension provision for colleagues will support them in saving for a decent level of income in retirement, and we’re working to make it as easy as possible for colleagues to save.
“We would encourage every employer that can to join the scheme, as well as the Living Wage and Living Hours, to ensure their workforce has a decent level of income both in employment and later in life.”
Scotland’s Fair Work Secretary Neil Gray MSP said:
“The Scottish Government’s fair work agenda strives to make sure workers and businesses benefit from well paid, good jobs that provide security of pay and hours.
“SSE has shown its commitment to being a fair work employer as an early adopter of Living Wage and Living Hours accreditation and now they have taken that further by gaining accreditation as a Living Pension company.
“By tying together the elements of pay, hours, and pensions, SSE are ensuring its workers earn an income that helps meet the cost of living now and also build a retirement fund to meet future living costs.”
Katherine Chapman, Director of the Living Wage Foundation, said:
“We are delighted that SSE has signed up as a Living Pension employer, providing stability and security for their workers now and in the future. Over the last ten years, the Living Wage campaign has grown in strength and numbers. Now paid by over 12,500 employers, it delivers essential pay rises to 430,000 workers annually.
The Living Pension builds on this by encouraging employers like SSE to do more to help their workers build a pension pot that meets basic everyday needs in retirement.”