Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has pledged to increase the minimum living wage for Greater London Authority (GLA) staff to £7.45 per hour which is 35% higher that the national minimum wage of £5.52 per hour.
In addition, 27 organisations including the Metropolitan Police Service and Barclays Bank and Ealing Council are also poised to pay their staff the so-called Living Wage for London which is recommended by the GLA as a wage that provides an acceptable minimum level of food and shelter for workers in London.
The concept of the living wage for London was introduced by the previous mayor Ken Livingstone in April 2007 at the rate of £7.20 per hour. Johnson is now increasing it due to the rising cost of living.
Johnson said: "I want City Hall to lead by example by ensuring its staff can maintain a decent standard of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Therefore I have made it clear to all parts of the organisation that I expect the living wage to be the basic standard.
"This is not only morally right but also makes good business sense contributing to better recruitment and retention of staff, higher productivity and a more loyal workforce with high morale."
The decision has been supported by trade unions, the TUC, local government and local businesses.
Dominic Johnson, employee relations director at Barclays, said: "We believe that people who work for our contractors, whether cleaners, security staff or in other roles, all contribute to our customers' experience of Barclays. Fair pay means motivated staff who stay working at Barclays longer. Improving people's standard of living makes business sense."