Charity and sustainable supermarket become Living Wage employers

Monday 14 June 2021

The Jersey Child Care Trust and sustainable co-operative SCOOP have both agreed to pay their employees the Living Wage.

Set at £10.96 per hour, the Living Wage takes into account the cost of living, taxes and the value of benefits available to working people on low incomes.

The aim is for recipients to be able to “thrive” in the local community, “not just survive”, according to Caritas, which is behind the local accreditation scheme.

“Everyone deserves to be paid at least the Living Wage for their hard work and commitment in their employment.  Living in our beautiful island is not easy for those on lower incomes,” JCCT's CEO, Fiona Vacher, said. 

“As a charity supporting children who live in lower income families, we see, first hand, the devastating impact of their parents’ more precarious or lower paid employment situations.  Becoming accredited has helped us to become more aware of our role, not only as a charity, employer and contractor, but also more broadly, as a lead organisation within the childcare arena.”

Living Wage campaign team leader Jennifer Bridge said she hoped JCCT signing up would “encourage childcare businesses to explore paying the Living Wage, if they are not doing so already”. 

SCOOP, meanwhile, has always paid the Living Wage to its staff, but Ms Bridge said she was “delighted that they have decided to seek accreditation as part of their comprehensive package of sustainable working practices.”

The sustainable co-operative's Director, Kaspar Wimberley, commented: “The Sustainable Cooperative has paid a minimum of the Living Wage to all of our staff from the day we opened our doors in 2018. We have a dedicated, skilled and creative team, each of whom are vital to the success of the business. We value their contributions and try to create a working environment that accommodates a range of needs and interests. We want to be a business that people want to work for!

“We also want to do more. We are currently exploring the idea of an equitable dividend to increase wages beyond The Living Wage and an extended training and personal development programme, while creating space for staff representation at Board meetings.

“We understand that sustainability goes beyond protecting natural resources and the environment. For society to evolve and be resilient to the challenges that we face, we also need to share skills, knowledge, power and resources, learn how to care for one another and recognise that we all deserve the same opportunity to enjoy life. It would be counter-productive on so many levels not to pay a Living Wage and we encourage all businesses in Jersey to take this step.”