Design firm pledges to pay the Living Wage

By Ben Fitzgerald - 27 September 2019

CommunityBusiness

Design firm O’Brien Media has been accredited as a Living Wage Employer. The move means that everyone working at the firm receive a minimum hourly wage of £9 in the UK or £10.55 in London. Both rates are significantly higher than the government minimum for over 25s, which currently stands at £8.21 per hour.

  • Andy Smart (left) and Chris Grant of O'Brien Media

    Andy Smart (left) and Chris Grant of O'Brien Media

O’Brien Media is based in the South West, a region where over a fifth of all jobs (21%) pay less than the real Living Wage - around 463,000 jobs. 

The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum. Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 160,000 people and put over £800m extra into the pockets of low paid workers.

Chris Grant, Creative Director, O’Brien Media Limited said “While we are still a very small business we felt it was important to become a Living Wage employer to ensure that our dedicated team are paid a fair wage for their hard work and dedication to our clients. As we grow, being a Living Wage employer will help us to hire, and keep, talented team members and help us maintain the high standards that our clients require of us. We don’t believe in completing projects with minimum effort so why would we pay our staff a “minimum” wage.”

Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: “We’re delighted that O’Brien Media has joined the movement of over 5,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.

“They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as IKEA, Heathrow Airport, Barclays, Chelsea and Everton Football Clubs and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like O’Brien Media, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay."

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