How to be a Living Wage employer

3 men and one woman stand outside the Trinity Centre in Bristol

What the Living Wage is and why it's important

The real Living Wage, currently £13.45 in Bristol, is the only UK wage rate based on the cost of living. It is voluntarily paid by UK businesses who believe their staff and contractors deserve a wage that meets everyday needs. Providing employees with a wage based on living costs can help provide security and stability for workers.

Further details are available on the Living Wage Foundation website.

Bristol became a Living Wage Place in December 2019. Since then, the Living Wage Foundations estimates that roughly 4,500 salaries have been uplifted helping tackle in-work poverty in Bristol. There are currently over 280 living wage employers headquartered in Bristol.

Business benefits 

Being a real Living Wage accredited employer can bring advantages to you as a business and to your staff. Paying the real Living Wage can enhance your reputation, encourage higher staff retention and productivity, make you more attractive as an employer to potential staff and boost your bids for tenders.

You can get recognition for paying your staff the real Living Wage by join the growing network of Living Wage businesses in Bristol and the West of England.

Further information

You can find more information about the real Living Wage and how to become an accredited employer on the Living Wage Foundation website or by emailing livingwage@bristol.gov.uk

Follow the Bristol Living Wage City Instagram page.

Go to our  pdf Guide to Bristol Real Living Wage Employers(254 KB) .

How to apply 

The list of accredited Bristol Living Wage employers is on the Living Wage Foundation website.
The list can be filtered by sector, locally or nationally.

  Quotes from Living Wage employers

University of the West of England Bristol

"Paying the real Living Wage has always been about doing the right thing, and is even more important in the current financial climate. Not only does it give people the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families, but research shows that it leads to higher staff morale and improved rates of staff retention."

Tracy Curnock, Senior HR Consultant (Reward)

Box-E

"A happy team makes for a good business. If staff know that they are going to get a real Living Wage as a minimum then it hopefully takes away some of the stresses of the cost of living rising."

Tess Lidstone, Co-owner

Making Bristol a Living Wage City

You can contact the Living Wage team at livingwage@bristol.gov.uk