RBH celebrates five years as a Living Wage employer

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing logo

RBH employees had reason to celebrate just before Christmas as the mutual housing society marked five years as an accredited Living Wage employer on Monday 17 December with a pay boost for its lowest-paid employees.

The real Living Wage is based on the cost of living and is voluntarily paid by over 4,700 UK employers who believe a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay.

There are currently five accredited Living Wage employers with their headquarters in Rochdale borough; in addition to RBH, E.R. Williams (Painting Contractors) Ltd, Hopwood Hall College, Kingsway Park High School, and Rochdale Online are also accredited employers.

To mark this anniversary, RBH have committed to paying the newly-announced real Living Wage rate of £9 immediately, rather than on 1 April, as well as to introduce the real Living Wage rate for RBH apprentices and trainees. In total, 41 employees will receive a pay boost as a result of today's announcement.

Gareth Swarbrick, RBH Chief Executive, said: "We're really proud to be a Living Wage employer.

"We said in 2013 that paying the Living Wage would bring significant benefits not only to RBH and our employees, but also for our tenants and the communities we serve, and that is still true today.

"We're pleased to be able to further our commitment as a Living Wage employer today, demonstrating both our commitment to our values and our responsibility to help build the local economy and create new opportunities for local people."