18 June 2015 | Herpreet Grewal
Support services firm Sodexo UK and Ireland will now a formally pay its workers the Living Wage.
The company, which employs 34,000 people in the UK and Ireland in the corporate healthcare, education, defence, justice and leisure sectors, will implement the UK and London Living Wage for all employees working in its head offices in London, Glasgow, Stevenage, Leeds, Salford and Swindon.
The commitment also means that Sodexo will, wherever permitted, submit a Living Wage alternative in all its bids and will promote the adoption of the Living Wage to its clients.
Angela Williams, Sodexo UK&I HR director said: "As a services company and a major UK employer, our people are at the heart of our business. Supporting the Living Wage is the right thing to do; it improves our employees' quality of life, but also benefits our business and wider society."
The firm's Living Wage commitment sits within its Public Service Pledge. Launched in March, the pledge is an ethical manifesto for Sodexo's contracts and conduct, for citizens and communities.
The Living Wage is an hourly rate calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK, set independently and updated annually. The current UK Living Wage is £7.85 an hour and the current London Living Wage is £9.15 an hour.