What do we do?

Transforming employment, transforming lives: we are the movement at the heart of work that works for everyone

We believe work should provide a decent standard of living for everyone; no-one should be in work and unable to make ends meet, now or in their future.

That's why we are bringing together employers, people and communities across the UK to drive up standards of good work, so that everyone has the security, dignity and freedom they need to thrive, today and tomorrow.

We do this through:

Accreditation

We offer multiple employer accreditations to become an accredited:

Living Wage Employer and pay the independently-calculated real Living Wage rates every year to all their staff.
Living Hours Employer, committing to provide all staff secure working hours and predictable shift patterns.
Living Pension Employer, adopting a Living Pension savings target so that employees don’t face poverty in retirement.

We also offer a Service Provider Recognition Scheme and a Living Wage Funder scheme as well as regional and global initiatives. More on these below.

Intelligence

We coordinate the announcement of the real Living Wage rates each year, based on the best available evidence about living standards in the UK.

We also provide advice and support to employers implementing any of our accreditations. This includes best practice guides, case studies from leading employers, model procurement frameworks and access to specialist legal and HR advice.

We also provide evidence and research about the impact and benefits of a Living Wage, Living Hours and Living Pension to people, businesses and the economy.

Influence

We provide a forum for leading employers to publicly join the independent movement of organisations, businesses and people campaigning for fairer, better work.

We work with Principal Partners who bring financial and strategic support to our work.

We coordinate Living Wage Week every year, a UK-wide celebration of the Living Wage movement and our Living Wage Champion Awards, recognising those in our network who go above and beyond to promote the Living Wage, Living Hours, Living Pensions and other good work practices.

Our accreditations and initiatives:

Living Wage accreditation

For organisations to demonstrate their commitment to paying a real Living Wage.

Living Hours accreditation

For organisations to demonstrate their commitment to providing secure working hours and shifts.

Living Pension accreditation

For organisations to demonstrate their commitment to providing stability and security for workers now and in the future

Our regional and global initiatives:

Living Wage Places

For those who want to work together to expand Living Wage accreditation in their local area.

Global Living Wage

For those organisations who want to provide a Living Wage across their global operations, and collaborate with other national accreditation bodies.

Our industry and sector based initiatives:

Living Wage Funders

For funding organisations who want to use their funding to encourage the organisations they support to pay the real Living Wage.

Recognised Service Providers

For service providers to demonstrate their commitment to paying a real Living Wage and offering Living Wage bids to their clients.