University of Salford implements new Real Living Wage rate

The Living Wage Foundation announced yesterday (15 November) that the new rate of pay for the UK (outside of London) would be £9.90 per hour – an increase of 40p from last year’s figure of £9.50 per hour.

Salford has been an accredited Living Wage Employer since 2013 and this has meant that over 130 employees each year have benefitted from our accreditation, in addition to hundreds of temporary employees, associated employees of direct suppliers of services and interns. All have benefitted from the higher rates of hourly pay that we commit to as being a Living Wage employer.

Professor Helen Marshall, Vice-Chancellor at the University, said: “We were one of the first universities in the UK to achieve the Living Wage Accreditation in 2013. Over the last 8 years the real living wage rates have benefitted lots of different groups of employees here at the University.

“We have also worked hard to ensure that through contract negotiations with our suppliers, those colleagues that are not directly employed by the University but provide vital services on campus, are also paid the living wage.

“Universities operate in a global context and it is all too easy to overlook those who serve us day in and day out from our immediate community. The minimum wage simply does not pay enough for families in particular to live on, and I am proud that we can support our staff in this way.”

The University is also very proud to be a founding anchor institution in the Greater Manchester (GM) region bid to become the first Living Wage region. This was announced yesterday to coincide with Living Wage Week, and we are pleased to be working alongside the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, The Real Living Wage Foundation and other large employers (including our fellow GM HE institutions) throughout the region to try and achieve this unique distinction. 

To find out more about the Real Living Wage rate, please visit this website.