As an environmental organisation with the aim of creating a society in which resources are valued and nothing is wasted, Zero Waste Scotland is proud to be a living wage employer.
Established in 2014, its remit is to help Scotland move towards a more circular economy in which waste is minimised by the clever design of products, keeping things in good use for longer, and maximising recycling where waste does occur.
Zero Waste Scotland currently employs around 100 people, all of whom earn above the living wage, and will shortly welcome its first interns to work on projects within its resource management and communications and engagement teams.
“Social responsibility is embedded in Zero Waste Scotland’s ethos,” explained Lynn Murray, head of finance and corporate services at Zero Waste Scotland. “With the work we do we’re hyper-aware of the need to minimise our carbon footprint, but we’re also keen to extend that responsibility to the wellbeing of our staff.
“It’s not just about wanting our colleagues to be happy at work – we’re an employer that values a healthy work-life balance, promotes positive attitudes towards mental health, and encourages sustainable behaviour. With that culture in mind, we jumped at the chance to become officially recognised as a living wage employer.”
She added: “It’s also an opportunity to lead by example. The Scottish Living Wage is a quality kite-mark we should be promoting and encouraging our contractors and supply businesses to do the same. That’s why we have incorporated the living wage into our procurement processes, so that any contractor basing staff at our offices must pay those employees the living wage.”
Zero Waste Scotland intends to make youth engagement a key feature of the organisation’s work.
“We’re in the early stages, but we will shortly have our first interns beginning work with us and are looking at other opportunities too,” said Murray. “We want to make sure that a young person coming into our organisation has the best possible experience, and paying them more than the minimum wage says we value the contribution they are making to the organisation.
“We’re proud to be an employer that credits our staff with a wage that reflects not only the valuable work they do, but is appropriate for the economic climate we live in.”
In addition to its Scottish Living Wage accreditation, which it achieved last October, Zero Waste Scotland holds Bronze Healthy Working Lives accreditation and is working towards the Silver award. It is also a committed equal opportunities employer, and has a number of formal family-friendly working practices and benefits in place.
The organisation’s funding comes from the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund.
Since it was launched in April 2014, more than 600 organisations in Scotland have signed up to the scheme to become accredited as official living wage employers, giving their workers at least £8.45 per hour.
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