PAYING the living wage helps attract and retain the very best young investment talent, according to a leading Scottish financial organisation.
Social Investment Scotland (SIS) has been an accredited living wage employer for around three years and is convinced it is not just about rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay.
“It’s about providing a marker of who we are as an organisation, what we stand for, who we work with, and how we look after our staff,” said CEO Alastair Davis.
“Our investment team, all of whom have specialist skills and are experts in their field, are obviously paid salaries commensurate with those skills. So, in one way, the living wage is irrelevant.
“However, the fact that we are accredited helps us to recruit and retain the very best young investment talent – those financiers who are looking to make a positive impact through finance.”
He added: “We know from our own research that the young men and women entering the workforce are increasingly looking for careers that provide them with something much more than just a job. They’re looking for careers in which they feel they can make a difference, and they’re looking for employers who share the same values and ethics.
“We believe that for an organisation focusing on maximising social impact, paying the living wage is absolutely the right thing for SIS to do. For us it’s not just about rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay.”
SIS was established in 2001 to provide a new finance model for Scotland’s charities and social enterprises. Since then it has invested over £63 million in over 300 organisations across Scotland.
It is now Scotland’s leading provider of affordable, flexible, repayable investment for social enterprises. As a charity and social enterprise, SIS provides investment for other charities and social enterprises looking to make a positive impact on people’s lives, society or the environment.
It provides loan finance ranging from £10,000 to £2m+ aimed at supporting community enterprises and social businesses that might find access to finance from mainstream providers difficult. SIS also helps manage funds on behalf of third parties with any profits being re-invested into social business development in Scotland. SIS currently manages the largest social enterprise fund in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government.
SIS employs a team of 21 and Davis said that everyone who works for SIS across Scotland draws on wide-ranging experience relevant to the needs of the sector. “That can be in previous jobs or how they spend their free time in community activities,” he said. “Their understanding of how organisations really work means they’re best placed to tailor social investment to customers’ specific needs.”
The organisation signed up to the living wage in 2015.
“It was important for SIS to be associated with the range of initiatives that have been introduced to highlight responsible business practice – like the Scottish Business Pledge and the living wage,” Davis explained. “Although the vast majority of roles at SIS pay above the living wage, this standard was introduced for all SIS suppliers and provides a baseline guiding principle for the interns and temporary workers SIS occasionally use.”
The UK Government’s “living wage” is a minimum wage rate for staff over 25. The rate is £7.83 per hour as of April 2018. The Government rate is based on median earnings while the Living Wage Foundation rate of £8.75 (soon to be £9) is based on the cost of living.
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