Sodexo UK and Ireland today announced that it is now a formally Recognised Service Provider proudly working together with the Living Wage Foundation.
Sodexo employs 34,000 people in the UK and Ireland, providing services that improve quality of life in the corporate, healthcare, education, defence, justice and leisure sectors. The firm will implement the UK and London Living Wage for all employees working in its head offices in London, Glasgow, Stevenage, Leeds, Salford and Swindon. The commitment also means that Sodexo will, wherever permitted, submit a Living Wage alternative in all its bids and will promote the adoption of the Living Wage to its clients.
In the last year more of Sodexo's new and renewed contracts, such as the Scottish Government, and University College London, have been negotiated to include the Living Wage for all employees. Earlier this year Sodexo welcomed its client GlaxoSmithKline's decision to extend its existing commitment to pay the Living Wage to its directly employed staff, to include all sub-contracted and third-party workforces, including a large number of Sodexo employees. Similarly, Southampton Solent University recently announced that it would implement the Living Wage for its main contractors (including Sodexo), again, extending its existing commitment to pay the Living Wage rate to directly employed staff.
The Recognition Award for Service Providers was created by the Living Wage Foundation in order to help service providers make a fair pay commitment. Given the nature of their business, it is not always possible for service providers to implement the Living Wage for all the contracts they deliver. Living Wage Recognition helps service providers demonstrate a commitment to the Living Wage, by paying it to head office staff and working with clients and customers to raise awareness.
Sodexo UK&I's Managing Director of Corporate Services, Neil Murray, will be joining the programme's Leadership Group, which was formed in 2014 with the aim of providing intelligence, advising on best practice and acting as industry advocates for the Living Wage Foundation.
With support of the Leadership Group, the Living Wage Foundation will this month be launching a bid to take its number of Recognised Service Providers to 100 by the Foundation's annual awareness week, 'Living Wage Week' (2- 5 November). The Foundation and its advocates from the Leadership Group, including Sodexo, will be speaking to FM companies at the Facilities Show (16 -18 June).
Neil Murray, Managing Director, Corporate Services, Sodexo UK&I said; "We are delighted to be part of the Service Providers Leadership Group. FM and services companies have an important role to play in the promoting the Living Wage movement. We are committed to working with our clients and with the wider industry to promote fair pay and tackle in-work poverty."
Angela Williams, Sodexo UK&I HR Director said; "As a services company and a major UK employer, our people are at the heart of our business. Supporting the Living Wage is the right thing to do; it improves our employees' quality of life, but also benefits our business and wider society."
Rhys Moore, Director of the Living Wage Foundation said; "The benefits the Living Wage brings to staff and business are clear. I welcome the leadership shown by Sodexo on this important issue. Our Service Providers are not just responding to the Living Wage, they are leading with it."
The firm's Living Wage commitment sits within its Public Service Pledge. Launched in March, the Pledge is an ethical manifesto for Sodexo's contracts and conduct, for citizens and communities.
The Living Wage is an hourly rate calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK, set independently and updated annually. The current UK Living Wage is £7.85 an hour and the current London Living Wage is £9.15 an hour