Employee-Owned Healthcare Business Now An Accredited Living Wage Employer

Shaw healthcare has officially become an accredited Living Wage employer, following a multi-million-pound investment into employee salaries earlier this year. 

From 1 March 2022, everyone at Shaw saw an increase in their salaries of between three and ten per cent, per annum, with the lowest paid receiving the highest uplift. This commitment to paying the Real Living Wage to all its employees – regardless of length of service – will result in a total investment of £6.3m in employee salaries by the company for 2022.

Chief Executive Officer, Russell Brown, has implemented a series of actions to increase the sense of ownership, engagement, and involvement in the company – including creating an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) in May 2020. The successful transition to being an EOT places Shaw in the top 10 of UK’s largest employee-owned companies amongst the likes of John Lewis and makes it the largest employee-owned healthcare company in the UK.

Mr Brown commented:

As an employee-owned company, all staff have received up to £1,100 in tax-free bonuses to date. We whole-heartedly acknowledge that it’s our employees who enable Shaw to maintain an excellent level of care, even during challenging periods such as the pandemic. We wanted to invest in them and show them that we care about doing the right thing – and becoming accredited Living Wage employers has helped bring that vision to life.

The Living Wage is a higher rate than the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage as it is recalculated annually to account for the true cost of living and announced every November. Currently, the Living Wage in the UK outside of London is £9.90, and in London it’s £11.05.

Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation added: 

We’re delighted that Shaw healthcare has joined the movement of over 10,000 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.

With the rising cost of living, the Living Wage has never been a more important lifeline for workers. They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as Ikea, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Shaw healthcare, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

Sarah Hopkins, director at Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales, added:

It’s fantastic news that Shaw Healthcare has joined over 430 Living Wage employers across Wales whose accreditations have resulted in over 17,000 workers uplifted to a Living Wage. As the Living Wage Foundation’s accreditation partner in Wales, we have been working for several years with Citizens Cymru and others in the Living Wage leadership group to secure a Living Wage care workers.

This year marked a milestone with Welsh Government’s commitment to ensuring registered care workers are paid a Living Wage from 1 April 2022, however, we are continuing to work with social care providers across Wales who want to show commitment to annual uplifts which reflect the cost of living and also recognise the organisational benefits that come with being an accredited real Living Wage employer.