London mayor Boris Johnson has announced a raise in the Living Wage for London to £7.45 per hour – 35% higher than the national minimum wage set by the government.
The Living Wage is calculated to be a minimum appropriate payment for any worker and recognises the particularly high and rising costs of living in the capital. It was previously set at £7.20 an hour but has now been boosted as part of an annual review.
The new figure will be paid to all staff who are part of the Greater London Authority – including Transport for London – and also to all new contractors as soon as possible.
Twenty-seven organisations, including the Metropolitan Police Service and Barclays, have also signed up to pay their staff the London Living Wage. Ealing Council has committed to introducing the rate in key contracts from September.
Johnson said: “There is too much poverty and deprivation and one way I can keep an election promise to tackle it is to raise the London Living Wage and step up the campaign to persuade London employers to match my commitment to ensure all GLA Group employees and contractors receive at least £7.45 per hour.”
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Dominic Johnson, Barclays’ employee relations director, said: “We believe that people who work for our contractors, whether cleaners, security staff or in other roles, all contribute to our customers’ experience of Barclays. Fair pay means motivated staff who stay working at Barclays longer.”
Last year Barclays announced the introduction of a base pay rate of £7.50 per hour for its third-party employees working in Greater London.
