- Over 200 UK employers have now committed to provide secure and stable working hours with the Living Wage Foundation’s Living Hours scheme;
- 80,000 workers stand to benefit from Living Hours measures so far;
- Committed employers include Aviva, SpareRoom, and Wealthify;
- The Living Hours movement aims to tackle short-shift culture which sees 3.4 million people trapped in low paid, insecure jobs.
- News comes on the back of a record 16,000 UK employers committing to pay their workers a real Living Wage.
The Living Wage Foundation’s scheme to tackle insecure work is gathering pace amid a tough climate for UK businesses, with 237 UK employers now signed up to provide secure and stable hours to their staff with a Living Hours accreditation.
Living Hours Employers are challenging the UK’s culture of precarious employment, which sees 6.1 million people struggle to get by without sufficient, regular hours to make ends meet. 3.4 million workers are in both low paid and insecure work [1]. The number and security of hours people work is a key driver of in-work poverty, alongside their rate of pay.
Living Hours sees employers commit to providing at least 4 weeks’ notice for every shift, with guaranteed payment if shifts are cancelled within this notice period. Living Hours employers also provide a guaranteed minimum of 16 working hours every week (unless the worker requests fewer), and a contract that accurately reflects hours worked. This commitment extends to regular third-party contractors.
Living Hours Employers go further than the welcome proposals in the Government’s Employment Rights Bill, currently making its way through Parliament. The Government’s proposals would give workers the right to a contract that reflects hours that are regularly worked, as well as reasonable notice of shift changes with proportionate compensation for cancelled shifts.
Early adopters of the Living Hours measures include major employers like Aviva, SpareRoom and Wealthify, as well as small and medium-sized businesses across the country. Over 80,000 (80,124) employees stand to benefit from the measures so far.
The Living Wage Foundation revealed last month that over 16,000 employers are now committed to paying all their workers the real Living Wage, which is currently £12.60 across the UK and £13.85 in London.
Katherine Chapman, Director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “Despite challenging economic times, it’s been fantastic to see such growth in businesses signing up to Living Hours, guaranteeing secure and stable working hours to their employees. Reaching 200 Living Hours employers is a significant milestone and means that 80,000 UK workers are now being provided with stable hours, a decent contract and minimum hours – making it possible to plan a life and a budget. We hope to see many more employers follow suit and join the Living Hours movement – it’s good for business and good for people.”
Nicola Ryan, Director of Colleague Support at One+All said: “We don’t want our colleagues to be worrying about things like how they’re going to pay the bills or afford to get to work. That’s why providing Living Hours alongside a real Living Wage is really important to us. It means our workers have the certainty of hours to be able to plan their lives and provide for their families. It makes good business sense to have regular hours, too. It’s an investment in our colleagues. Our customers get better service because people at One+All feel valued and happy. We retain people and knowledge so save on recruitment and training costs. We encourage any employers looking to support their workers and stand out as a forward-thinking organisation to sign up to Living Hours.”
ENDS
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Matt Ford, Media Manager: [email protected] | 07507478967
Léa Corban, Senior Media Manager: [email protected] | 07539 055 565
Notes to Editors
[1] Richardson, J. (2023) Precarious pay and uncertain hours: insecure work in the UK Labour Market. Living Wage Foundation. https://www.livingwage.org.uk/precarious-pay-and-uncertain-hours-insecure-work-uk-labour-market