Pest Solutions – Accredited Living Wage Employer

Pest Solutions have officially become an Accredited Living Wage Employer, joining over 11,000 businesses across the UK who are committed to ensuring that employees receive a wage that meets the current cost of everyday needs.

We demand and receive the highest standards of professionalism from our staff every single day in order to provide our customers with the best possible pest management services.

We believe that this outstanding service deserves fair pay at all times, and this is why even before we achieved our accreditation, almost all of our roles already paid above the real living wage.

Over 14% of all the jobs in Scotland currently pay less than the real Living Wage but we have decided that this will not be the case at Pest Solutions and are fully committed to providing each and every member of our team with a fair day’s pay for their hard work.

Since being introduced in 2011, the Living Wage movement has secured over 52,000 Scotland workers with a pay rise and we are proud to be adding to that number.

Peter Kelly, Director of The Poverty Alliance said:

“We all need an income that is enough to cover our needs and protect us from poverty, and it’s only right that employers pay a wage that reflects the cost of living. Too many workers in Scotland are paid less than the real Living Wage and, at a time of rising costs, are struggling to stay afloat. The real Living Wage can offer protection from those rising costs. Congratulations to Pest Solutions on their Living Wage commitment, and I hope more organisations follow their lead by becoming Living Wage accredited.”

Gail Irvine, Living Wage Scotland Manager said:

“We’re delighted that Pest Solutions has become an accredited Living Wage employer. They join a growing movement of over 2500 employers in Scotland who together want to ensure workers have what they need to thrive. Our Living Wage employer network includes lots of smaller employers as well as larger and iconic brands like SSE, abrdn, Barrs, Mackie’s of Scotland, & D.C. Thomson. We hope to see many more employers following their example.”

Why We Choose To Pay The Real Living Wage

At Pest Solutions, our success is our people. The hard work of our entire staff, from the technicians in the field to the office team that keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes, has allowed us to grow exponentially as a business over the past few years, and we don’t intend to slow down any time soon.

Becoming a real living wage employer shows just how committed we are to supporting our team and maintaining the strong employer and employee relationship that is so crucial to sustained growth.

We believe that our staff deserved to be paid accordingly for the fantastic work that they do each and every single day so becoming a living wage accredited employer really was a no brainer for us.

Over the past two years, the number of living wage employees in the UK has more than doubled, with over half of companies in the FTSE 100 now choosing to pay the real living wage to provide their employees with financial security.

We’re not quite that size (Yet!) but are just as committed to providing our staff with the stability they deserve. We work on the ethos that when staff are happy in their work, without the constant stress of financial pressures on their mind, they will be able to work to the very best of their ability and help the company thrive.

Some companies may argue that the rising cost of goods and services means that paying the real living wage is not a realistic option and look to make savings by paying the national minimum wage set by the UK Government.

Not us. We prefer to think of this commitment as an investment, in the future of our employees and the business. Happy employees are productive employees and ours are some of the very best.

The more content staff are in their roles, the better they will perform, the more satisfied customers we have, and the more the business can grow.

As well as paying a fair wage to all employees being a sound financial investment, we also care deeply about their welfare and have built our company on the loyal and productive relationship between management and employees.

Over half of the staff at existing Living Wage employer companies said that their relationships with their employers improved when they started paying the real Living Wage.

What Is The Real Living Wage?

The real Living Wage is the hourly rate of pay that is calculated as the minimum required for an acceptable standard of living in the UK.

Unlike the national minimum wage, the real living wage is updated every single year and is adjusted based on the current cost of living in the country.

The real living wage currently sits at £10.90 per hour after rising 10.1% in September 2022 and employers have until 14th May 2023 to implement the rise.

How Is The Living Wage Determined?

The living wage is reviewed each and every year and is determined by a methodology based on the ‘Minimum Income Standard’, a research method designed to identify the incomes that the public deem essential for an acceptable standard of living.

The new living wage is normally announced in November every year during Living Wage Week but due to unprecedented rises in inflation, a 10.1% rise was announced in September, two months earlier than planned, to reflect the rapidly increasing cost of living.

The calculation process is overseen by the Living Wage Commission, a body made up of leading real Living Wage employers, trade unions, civil society, and academics.

The public consultation method used to calculate the hourly living wage rate is far more realistic than the Government determined minimum wage as it directly reflects real people’s experiences of how much is required to afford essentials such as rent, travel, childcare, food, and energy.

This is why the London real living wage is slightly higher than in the rest of the country, as rent and other living expenses are significantly higher in the city than in other places across the UK.

Are Bonuses Included?

The real living wage is an hourly rate that must be paid to all employees of an accredited company.

Guaranteed bonuses such as city living bonuses can be factored into the living wage, but performance based non-guaranteed bonuses cannot.

What Is The Difference Between The National Living Wage And The Real Living Wage?

In the UK, the current national living wage is set at £9.50. This is the amount that employers must legally pay to those over the age of 23. This is not to be confused with the real living wage, which is a voluntary threshold that responsible employers choose to pay their employees and varies constantly according to the cost of living.

The legal national living wage is really just the minimum wage for those over 23 years of age and does not reflect the lived experience of those coping with rising prices.

Inflation has risen to an all time high in the UK, and as purchasing power falls, wage increases are required in order for people to maintain the same standard of living they did before.

Rises to the legal national ‘living wage’ have fallen well short of this and the real living wage was introduced to allow responsible employers to provide employees with a fair day’s pay, relative to the current cost of living.

This is why we choose to become a live wage employer. We believe that everyone at Pest Solutions has the right to be paid fairly for the fantastic work that we do, and are fully committed to helping all our staff through this difficult time.

How Did Pest Solutions An Accredited Living Wage Employer?

As we mentioned above, the vast majority of our staffing positions already paid above the real living wage before we became officially accredited.
You might think that this, along with a commitment to ensure that all our roles in the future met or exceeded the required hourly rate would be enough to become accredited.

However, whilst this is the crux of the matter there are a number of criteria that we had to meet in order to achieve accreditation.

In order to receive a living wage employer licence, we had to demonstrate that there was an implementation plan in place to ensure that all employees are paid the current set real living wage rate for the area they work in.

As a pest management company operating in Scotland and across the North of England this currently sits at £10.90 after rising from £9.90 in September 2022.

The living wage does not need to be implemented immediately in all cases with a phased implementation option allowing employers to work alongside the Living Wage Foundation to create a timetable for contracted staff to move on to the Living Wage as their contracts come up for renewal or break clauses arise.

When the living wage rises, as it does nearly every year to match living cost increases, this means that employers do not need to immediately find a huge chunk of extra money in order to retain their status, many understandably simply couldn’t afford to do so, and can instead gradually move to the new pay structure.

As most of our staff already earn above the real living wage, this was not a major issue for us although any contracts that do not currently meet the calculated living wage are included as milestones in the accreditation licence that we received from the Foundation.

It is an expectation that all contracts of a newly accredited living wage employer move onto the real living wage within 2-3 years of accreditation.

Once our commitments had been made and milestones set, our accreditation was confirmed by a signed licence with the Living wage foundation, and we became a proud official living wage employer.