Our work

The Living Wage Foundation is a new national body that recognises and celebrates the leadership shown by Living Wage employers across the UK.

The Living Wage Foundation does three things:

Accreditation:

We offer accreditation to employers that pay the living wage, or those committed to an agreed timetable of implementation. The ‘Living Wage Employer’ mark is a recognised sign of good practice in employment.

Intelligence:

We provide advice and support to employers implementing the Living Wage including best practice guides; case studies from leading employers; model procurement frameworks; access to specialist legal and HR advice.

Influence:

We provide a forum for leading employers to publicly back the Living Wage. We work with Principal Partners who bring financial and strategic support to the work.

The Foundation is supported by six Principal Partners:

"Paid work is the most important route out of poverty, but a substantial number of workers in the capital are still paid wages that are simply not enough to support them and their dependents. As a charitable trust that exists to tackle poverty and inequality in London, we helped establish the Living Wage Foundation in order to persuade other employers that paying a living wage is the right thing to do in order to help lift the working poor of London out of poverty; as a living wage employer ourselves, we would strongly urge other employers to do the same."

- Bharat Mehta, Chief Executive

“For KPMG paying the Living Wage is simply good sense. You don't always need to start from the economic case in order to understand why it should be part of any forward looking sustainability strategy. Consider the social case and the changes in societal expectations over the last ten years and think about what the future might hold. I look forward to the day when the Living Wage brand is as widely known as the Fairtrade brand - and just as widely respected. It is going to come a lot sooner than you might think.”

- Mike Kelly, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility

"It is not just the right thing to do, it makes absolute business sense. It ensures that we attract and retain the best and most motivated people, whether directly employed by us or by others. We want good people and the Living Wage is an excellent way of getting and keeping them."

- Matt Sparkes, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility

“Paying the living wage and bringing the cleaning service in-house has brought dividends to Queen Mary. The college is cleaner, staff feel rewarded and the wider community – both on and off campus – have fully backed the idea.”

- Professor Simon Gaskell, Principal

“We are proud supporters of the new Living Wave Foundation. As experts on the challenges faced by those in work and on low to middle incomes, we’re well aware of the difference the living wage can make to people’s lives. We’re delighted that the new Foundation will spread best practice and provide advice and support to those employers who do choose to implement a living wage, and we hope its take up spreads as a result.”

- Gavin Kelly, Chief Executive

“3.5 million children are growing up in poverty in today's Britain - most of these children live in households where their parents are in work, earning poverty wages. Our commitment to the living wage campaign is based on the simple premise that employers must be a part of the solution to child poverty in our country.”