West Brom Building Society: Championing Living Wage, Living Hours and Living Pension

West Bromwich Building Society (“The West Brom”) has been an accredited Living Wage Employer since 2020. In 2022, they achieved Living Hours accreditation, and in 2025 became a Living Pension Employer as well. We spoke with Susith Jayamanne, Reward & Data Analysis Specialist at the West Brom, about their experience as the first building society to achieve all three of these accreditations.  

Why Living Hours and Living Pension?

After becoming a real Living Wage Employer in 2020, the West Brom saw Living Hours and Living Pension as the natural next steps.  Their aims were clear:  

“We were driven by a commitment to our core purpose as a Building Society. We believe that building a secure financial future isn’t just for our customers; it’s also a responsibility we have to our colleagues.  

Our motivation for Living Hours was to provide security, enhance work-life balance, and embody our core values. The Living Hours measures give our colleagues the stability they need to manage their finances, and plan for their future with confidence.  

We were then driven to pursue the Living Pension to increase security in retirement, enhance the value we give our colleagues, and to lead by example. The Living Pension means our colleagues can save towards a more secure retirement and shows our commitment to trust and long-term security as a building society. 

As with all our purpose led initiatives, championing these standards is not just about our colleagues or customers, but also about how we can influence wider society in general to join the Real Living Wage movement.” 

Why all three accreditations?

“If you want to look after your people properly, you’ve got to look at the whole picture. Not just the pay rate, but their hours and their future too.” 
 
“For us, getting all three accreditations wasn’t just about ticking boxes. It was about doing the right thing for our people. We don’t see these as separate options to pick and choose from. If you’re serious about supporting your team’s financial wellbeing, you need 
all three working together.” 

“Living Hours is such a crucial follow-up to Living Wage. It gives people the stability they need to plan their lives, pay their bills, and breathe a little easier. And then there’s Living Pension – the third piece of the puzzle. It is often easy to focus on the here and now, but we also want our colleagues to feel confident about their future. Making sure our pension contributions are enough to support a decent retirement is the most pragmatic way to provide that confidence to our colleagues." 

Process: How they achieved the Living Hours and Living Pension accreditations 

After becoming a Living Wage Employer, the West Brom kept the conversation with the Living Wage Foundation going, participated in events and stayed up to date with developments. Internally, when looking at the Living Hours measures, they found they were already 95% there. “Our practices in setting weekly hours already met the minimum standards required from the accreditation.  Where colleagues worked fewer hours, they did so for their own work-life balance preferences, which are fully supported under the Living Hours standard. The real work was making sure we could commit to maintaining those standards long-term. Our team got to it straight away; the purpose behind Living Hours just made sense, and the Foundation team was always on hand to help answer any questions.” 

From the first meeting to gaining the Living Hours accreditation, the process took two to three months. During this process, The West Brom shared that “the support we got from the Living Hours team was brilliant. They were responsive, practical, and genuinely invested in helping us succeed.” 

With Living Pension, the West Brom had been in conversation with the Living Wage Foundation before the accreditation had even been formally launched, so they were familiar with the concept. 

“Meeting the Living Pension contributions benchmark meant a noticeable increase to our annual costs, so we knew we had to take a measured approach. We wanted to make sure it was sustainable, and that it would genuinely make a difference to our colleagues.” They conducted internal listening exercises to see if it would: 

“At the time, like many employers, attracting and retaining talent was a challenge. We were also kicking off a few big people and culture projects at the time, so we took the opportunity to ask our colleagues what really mattered to them. The results were clear: pensions kept showing up in the top three most valued benefits, alongside fair pay, and work-life balance. Drawing on this colleague feedback along with insights from our workplace pension take-up rates, we recognised that adopting the Living Pension standard would give a boost to our long-term wellbeing provisions.” 

So, in March 2025, they upgraded their auto-enrolment tiers to meet the Living Pension standard, choosing the percentage-based route. 

“Because we’d been in regular contact with the Living Pension team throughout, the accreditation came through quickly, just a few days after we made the change. Their support was invaluable the whole way through.” 

The West Brom also considered how to extend these standards to third party contractors. 

“We have put in periodical checks with our third-party contractor suppliers to make sure they keep following Living Hours standards. Our biggest is the company that provides our cleaning services. They have been very supportive of our goal to provide their cleaning staff working in our premises the same level of securities we provide our own colleagues via the Living Hours and Living Pensions standards.  

We’re working closely with them to get the right processes in place, and the standards include a three-year transition period for contractors, which gives us the breathing room to do this properly and fairly.” 

What has been the impact so far?

Affordability & buy in 

Due to the strong values-based culture at The West Brom, gaining leadership support was not a big hurdle. 

“Having an organisational culture and a leadership team which already understand the value of looking after colleagues and their wellbeing, makes the ‘affordability’ discussion a very easy one to have. So, when we brought these schemes to the table, we weren’t starting from scratch. We were building on values that were already there.” 

They developed robust proposals with costings and operational implications, though the key consideration was the human impact. 

“We put together proposals, laid out the costs, looked at what changes we would have to make operationally, and flagged any extra resources. But the real selling point wasn’t in any of the numbers, it was the impact on our people. Our senior leaders saw that straight away. It’s an investment, but it’s one that pays off in loyalty, engagement, and a stronger, more united workforce.” 

Support on the journey  

“We really can’t fault the Living Wage Foundation team... they were very understanding of our business and operational needs and willing to work with us to overcome any challenges or issues we faced during our accreditation processes. They were with us every step of the way”  

Raising awareness, embedding the standards and governance 

Communication has been central to embedding the commitments of the Living Hours and Living Pension standards into everyday operations.  

“We made sure our internal comms did not just stop after the initial announcement. We kept the message alive with regular updates; whether it’s celebrating another year of accreditation or letting everyone know when the new Living Wage rate kicks in each year.” 

Behind the scenes, they built checks into HR and payroll processes. “This in turn helps with the governance side too, where managers and staff start to self-police these standards. If something doesn’t quite meet the mark, it gets flagged and challenged early. And if we ever hit a grey area or a new scenario pops up, the Living Wage Foundation team is always on hand to help us out.” 

Advice for other employers considering Living Hours and Living Pension 

“Start with your 'why'. Don't view this as a tick-box exercise; see it as a strategic investment in your people and your business. Ask yourself: ‘do these accreditations reflect who we are as a company, and do they align with our culture?  Committing to these standards, especially in a climate of rising employment costs, is no small task.  But those who do make the commitment stand out from the crowd; earn trust, loyalty, and long-term value in return.’ 

Take stock and listen. Be honest about your current pay, hours, and pension setup. Talk to your people and keep the conversation going. Share the journey with your team and let them know what you’re working on and why. 

Once you’re accredited, show the impact and share stories of how it’s helped people. 

At the end of the day, this is much more than just being an accredited employer. These standards are a promise to your people that you’re in it for the long haul. By championing these standards, you’re establishing yourself as a leader, setting an important benchmark for others across your industry and community.” 

Inspired by what you've read from West Brom? Join the movement of employers making work that works for everyone and become accredited today.