Lloyds Banking Group and Unilever have been accredited by the Living Wage Foundation as living wage employers.

The employers have committed to paying all staff the living wage rate, which today (2 November 2015) increased to £8.25 an hour and £9.40 in London.

Although Lloyds Banking Group already pays its permanent employees above the living wage, it is now working with third-party contractors and suppliers that regularly work on its premises to ensure that they also receive at least the living wage rate.

George Culmer, chief financial officer at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “As a responsible business, we believe in long-term investment in our colleagues to retain the right talent and therefore have been paying above the living wage.

“More importantly, we believe our values should be extended to everyone who works for Lloyds Banking Group and therefore we have been working closely with our third-party contractors and suppliers to ensure these colleagues are also in line with our commitment.”

While Unilever UK also already pays its employees at least the living wage rate, it has committed to encouraging its key suppliers to pay the living wage and ensuring that all regular contractors that work on-site receive the living wage rate over the next 18 months.

Tim Munden, HR director at Unilever UK, said: “As an [organisation] committed to making sustainable living commonplace we believe it is right to raise the floor on wages. That is why we have been committed to paying our UK employees at least a living wage for some time.

“We are therefore delighted to take this next natural step in gaining accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation; it underlines our commitment to a living wage approach across our supply chain and it will ensure that hundreds more people working with us will be paid the living wage by the end of next year.”

Sarah Vero, director at the Living Wage Foundation, added: “[Unilever UK’s] accreditation means that more than a quarter of the FTSE 100 are now part of the living wage movement.

“They join 2,000 other responsible businesses that voluntarily pay the living wage rate that is based on the real cost of living in the UK.”