People who work for the Methodist Church will be paid at least the
Living Wage from last Thursday.
The Methodist Church is the first major
Christian denomination to implement this policy in Britain.
From 1 September 2011 all people employed by the Methodist Church
will be paid at least the Living Wage (currently £7.60 per hour).
This
is the hourly wage that will enable someone who works full time to live
and participate in society (for example, by having time and some money
to spend with family, being able to pay for children’s school clothes
and some school trips).
The Living Wage rate is reviewed annually and recommended by Church
Action on Poverty, an independent charity. The legally enforced Minimum
Wage ranges from £3.64 per hour for school leavers to £5.93 for those
over the age of 21.
“The majority of people living in poverty are from a working
household and low pay is one of the major drivers of poverty in the UK,”
said the Rev Leo Osborn, President of the Methodist Conference.
He continued: “As Christians we care deeply about justice and
fairness. A long-hours low-pay culture can be found up and down our
nation. The reality of low-paid work for many is very long hours and
multiple jobs, leaving little time for family, community or leisure. In a
fractured society where family and community matter more than ever,
paying the Living Wage is one practical way of showing a commitment to
these aspects of life.”
The UK Living Wage was founded after concern that community and
family life suffer when adults in a household need to work long hours
and multiple jobs to afford a basic standard of living.
It allows a
person to work 40 hours a week in return for a decent standard of
living.
Commenting on the practical implemention of the policy, Director of
Development and Personnel, Ms Carmila Legarda said: “We have encouraged
our churches to pay staff a Living Wage for a number of years and we
finally made it our policy after extensive research to ensure it would
be affordable and deliverable. But equally we know that throughout the
Connexion much work and some difficult decisions have needed to happen
over the last year. We have been happy to work alongside churches
introducing the Living Wage over the last year and will continue to do
so as long as it is needed."
"Justice for our workers was the key reason for this policy, but
another major factor was our understanding that by paying church workers
a decent wage we would be helping them to be more effective employees.
There may be added costs but we believe that it’s money well spent.”
Church Action on Poverty are strong advocates of the Living Wage within the faith sector and welcomed the Church’s commitment.
“We are delighted that the idea of the Living Wage is gaining
momentum within Churches and faith groups and this step from the
Methodist Church is a clear endorsement of that. We now hope that other
denominations, charities and employers more generally follow the example
of the Methodist Church in signing up as Living Wage employers,” said
Niall Cooper, Coordinator of Church Action on Poverty"
The Methodist Church in Britain has nearly 241,000 members and
regular contact with over 580,000 people.
It has 5,237 churches across
the country, and also maintains links with other Methodist churches
totalling a worldwide membership of 70 million.