Luton Town Football Club (FC) is the first football league club to be accredited as a living wage employer.
The club has committed to paying all employees the national living wage of £7.85, whether they are permanent staff or third-party contractors and suppliers.
The national living wage is an hourly rate set independently, updated annually and paid by employers on a voluntarily basis. It is calculated according to the basic cost of living using the Minimum Income Standard for the UK, and is higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50.
In December 2014, Chelsea Football Club became the first Premier League football club to commit to paying its employees and external contractors the living wage.
Gary Sweet, chief executive of Luton Town Football Club, said: “We’re delighted to have been given full accreditation, which will help ensure a fair level of pay enabling a better work-life balance to all our staff.
“We hope that in making this commitment, other teams, especially those further up the football pyramid with far bigger budgets than ours will follow suit.”
Rhys Moore, director of the Living Wage Foundation, added: “Luton’s commitment to the living wage is clear, and I’m sure it will be a champion of it across the football and sports sector, as well as in its local community.”
On 26 March 2015, all Premier League clubs agreed to commit to paying their full-time staff the living wage by the start of the 2016-17 season, although this will not extend to sub-contracted staff.