Food producer for the health and social care sector, Apetito UK, has committed to ensuring that all of its 1,100 employees receive the living wage or higher from early 2016.
At present, 82% of the organsiation’s workforce earns the hourly living wage of £7.85 or above, including all staff at its manufacturing and distribution sites in Trowbridge and Bristol.
The organisation is working towards obtaining accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.
Apetito’s commitment to the living wage is in line with its aim of making a difference to its customers, consumers and those working in the health and social care sectors.
Staff also receive a benefits package, which includes a retail benefits scheme, life assurance, healthcare, tax-efficient benefits such as bikes for work and childcare vouchers, as well as higher-than-statutory pension contributions.
Paul Freeston (pictured), chief executive of Apetito, said: “Our mission at Apetito is to ’make a real difference’ and that means embedding principles that support our customers, our supply chain, and crucially, our workforce.
“Supporting the living wage is quite simply the right thing to do; it improves our employees’ quality of life, but also benefits our business and society as a whole.
”Indeed, our profit-share scheme, which all staff participate in, means that we are effectively paying staff a wage over and above the living wage right now, a fact of which I am very proud.”
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The living wage is calculated by the Living Wage Foundation according to the cost of living in the UK. It is currently set at £7.85 an hour and £9.15 in London. It is distinct from the national living wage announced in the Summer Budget, which is due to come into effect in April 2016 at the rate of £7.20 an hour.