The Living Wage Foundation has announced a rise in the Real Living Wage from today of 4.8% or 65p per hour, making the new voluntary hourly rate £14.10 in the UK.
The Real Living Wage is a voluntary standard and around 4,000 businesses in Scotland are signed up to pay it, and as a consequence, 76,000 employees can look forward to a pay rise by 1 May next year.
The campaign has been running for 25 years and has gathered around £5 billion extra in wages for low paid workers – of which Scottish employers pay in the regions of £730 million.
The current UK Government national living wage is £12.71 from April 2026. This is the legal minimum which all employers have to pay, but the Real Living Wage scheme is a voluntary one which goes beyond the government minimum “to ensure that staff always earn enough to maintain a decent standard of living”.
The real Living Wage is calculated independently, combining the cost of a decent standard of living, as defined by members of the public, with two-thirds of median household income after housing costs, taking account of the tax and benefits system.
Moreland McDiarmid, Managing Director of Capital Service Solutions Group with its base in Livingston, said: “Paying the real Living Wage is about more than meeting a threshold. It’s about recognising the value of people and creating workplaces where employees can thrive. As an accredited Living Wage Employer, we’ve seen how investing in our people supports retention, wellbeing, service quality and ultimately benefits both our employees and our business.”
In addition to the Real Living Wage there are more than 300 employers who have signed up to guarantee a minimum number of hours of work in the Living Hours scheme. This guarantees 16 hours of work a week, a month’s notice of shift patterns and a contract that reflects hours worked.
