In 2013 Salford City Council became the first local authority in Greater Manchester to pay the real Living Wage. Since then more and more Salford-based organisations and firms have followed suit.
In the same year, we also launched Salford’s Employment Standards Charter which contains a specific pledge focused on paying staff at, or working towards the Living Wage, and over 100 employers to date have committed to work towards these standards.
In 2014 Salford City Council won the first Living Wage Champion Award. These prestigious awards recognise Living Wage employers that contribute to communities and industries by implementing and celebrating the Living Wage.
In 2016 Salford’s Health and Wellbeing Board agreed to ‘work towards becoming a Living Wage health and well-being system, using evidence about the businesses and health cases for the [real] Living Wage.’
In 2017 Salford City Council and NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), both accredited Living Wage employers, boosted pay to £8.30 per hour for home care workers in the city – well above the national minimum wage at the time.
Salford Health and Wellbeing Board’s work in this area has been recognised by the Living Wage Foundation at its annual national Living Wage Champion Awards when Unlimited Potential was presented with the Industry Leadership Award (June 2018) and the ‘Against All Odds’ Industry Award (June 2019).
In 2019 Salford, working with the Living Wage Foundation, launched its plan to become England’s first Living Wage city. The action group behind the plan is made up of representatives of local businesses, the council, the University of Salford and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.
In 2020 all Salford care workers received another pay rise to £9 an hour from 1 October, as another step by the council and CCG towards them receiving the full real Living Wage.
In 2021 Salford had 68 accredited employers in the city with many more paying rates equal to or above the real Living Wage without accrediting with the Living Wage Foundation.
Salford also won three national Living Wage Champion Awards for our work:
Salford now has 92 accredited employers in the city.
The three year action plan has succeeded far beyond initial targets and will be refreshed to cover the next three years.
The action group’s aim is to increase the number of workers receiving the real Living Wage to 20,000 and encourage employers in traditionally low paid sectors such as hospitality and social care to boost pay for their employees
Every organisation which pays the real Living Wage reports increased productivity and better staff retention because their employees feel valued. They find it easier to recruit staff as people want to work for an organisation which values them and customers value it too.
The real Living Wage also puts money back into the economy and allows people to live in dignity without worrying about making ends meet.
This page was last updated on 16 September 2022