Amazed to read that 8 premier league teams don’t pay the living wage. Among them Man Utd and Arsenal. Can it really be that hard a thing to do?
Never underestimate what absolute bastards people can be, esp big corporations! That said, worth noting that the living wage and minimum wage are different only 1 is mandatory sadly. I've done a fair bit of work with the Living Wage Foundation, and normally in these cases it's not direct employees of the clubs but outsourced companies who are providing security / cleaning / match day catering etc. type services who don't pay their staff the living wage, but all companies are ultimately socially responsible for their supply chains and you'd expect clubs like this to make more of an effort to ensure living wage for anyone who 'works' for their company
Whilst your right on most of this, I don’t think you’re quite right on the Living wage/ Minimum wage thing. They changed it a few years ago, and the names don’t really explain it well. Minimum wage is the minimum for anyone under 23 Living wage is still a minimum wage for people over 23 They’re both as mandatory as each other, your pay just goes up when you hit 23. (Yes I know…what about those who are exactly 23…CBA to check but just take your birthday off to make sure.)
Everything else aside... If clubs can pay 100s of thousands a week to single individual, they can pay people a living wage. Simple. No ifs, no buts.
I think you're both right. Living wage was a term used by campaign groups to mean "a wage you can realistically live off" for years before it was eventually also used by the government as a new name for the minimum wage, which is less than what was meant by the term originally. Presumably the change was made to deliberately confuse and weaken the message of those campaigning for a real living wage.
Campaign groups are now using the term 'real living wage', which is £10.90 (the government living wage being £9.50), or £11.95 in London. Quite a lot of large employers have voluntarily signed up to pay the real living wage. I think all football clubs agreed to pay the real living wage, but their commitment only applies to full time staff, so stewards and kiosk workers etc don't necessarily qualify, particularly if they're operated by third party employers.
Living wage? Minimum wage? Real living wage? This is all very confusing. It should be renamed wage of colour.
