CTS Named First Accredited Living Wage Employer In The Sector

The Living Wage Foundation is pleased to announce that CTS Cleaning Solutions Ltd, a London-based cleaning company, has become the UK’s first Living Wage accredited cleaning company.

The accreditation of a cleaning company is particularly poignant for the Foundation. The modern living wage campaign, from which the Foundation was developed, started when community organising charity Citizens UK, acted in support of their members in East London, who despite working several minimum wage jobs were not able to make ends meet. A group of cleaners working with Citizens UK took the Living Wage idea to several key city firms, and quickly won the support of high profile businesses including KPMG and Barclays, who went on to become two of the Foundation’s principal partners.

Now, there are over 700 accredited Living Wage organisations across the UK; the Living Wage enjoys cross party support, with public backing from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. In London alone, over 10,000 families have been lifted out of working poverty as a direct result of the Living Wage. The accreditation is an agreement by CTS to pay all employees, at least £8.80 in London – significantly higher than the current minimum wage of £6.31 an hour.
    
Peter Cooke, Managing Director and CTS Cleaning Solutions Ltd, said: “I have always made a conscious effort to ensure that all my staff earn what I think is a satisfactory wage for the work they carry out, including work that can be physically demanding and consists of early morning or late evening starts and unsociable hours. As an ethical employer, this has resulted in me joining the Living Wage Foundation, and being recognised as a company that makes sure our staff are paid well above the minimum wage."

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, calculated according to the basic cost of living using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ for the UK. Decisions about what to include in this standard are set by the public, via a social consensus about what people need to make ends meet. Living Wage Foundation Director, Rhys Moore, said: “We are delighted to welcome CTS to the Living Wage movement as the first cleaning company to accredit as a Living Wage employer. Cleaning services jobs are traditionally amongst some of the lowest paid roles in the country, with many employers opting to peg wages to the lowest rate legally possible, the national minimum wage.

“The Living Wage Foundation believes that work should be the surest way out of poverty, and the leadership CTS has shown will, we hope, encourage others in this industry to consider how they support low-paid employees. The best employers are voluntarily signing up to pay the Living Wage now, as it is a robust calculation that reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay.”