Superior Care Joins Living Wage Campaign

Superior Care has been formally accredited by the Living Wage Foundation, demonstrating its commitment to responsible employment practices within the healthcare and support sector.

The company’s certification as a Living Wage Employer means all its staff receive at least the recommended Living Wage, which is currently set at £7.65 outside London – an hourly rate significantly higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50.

A new rate is set to be announced at the start of Living Wage Week (November 2-8), which aims to highlight the business benefits of implementing the Living Wage policy.

With branches across Kent employing almost 400 people, Superior Care provides bespoke specialist care for adults and children living with complex health conditions in their own homes, as well as support for older people and those with learning and physical disabilities by working with local care providers including nursing and residential homes and hospitals.

Superior Care’s chief executive Stewart Thorp said: “Businesses in the care sector depend on the compassion, diligence and professionalism of their staff. It is hugely important to us – and our clients – that Superior Care employees feel valued and well rewarded. As we look to expand across Kent and the South East, our Living Wage Employer status will help us attract people who are committed to building a fulfilling career in care.”

In addition to the Living Wage, Superior Care offers a host of benefits for carers, support workers and registered nurses, including flexible hours, internal and external training placements, and 28 days paid holiday each year (pro-rata).

Rhys Moore, Living Wage Foundation Director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Superior Care to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer. The best employers are voluntarily signing up to pay the Living Wage now. The Living Wage is a robust calculation that reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay.

“We have accredited over 950 leading employers, businesses which recognise that clinging to the national minimum wage is not good for business. Customers expect better than that.”

The Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ for the UK. Decisions about what to include in this standard are set by the public; it is a social consensus about what people need to make ends meet.

An independent study examining the business benefits of implementing a Living Wage policy in London found that more than 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff, while absenteeism had fallen by approximately 25%.

Fifty per cent of employees felt that the Living Wage had made them more willing to implement changes in their working practices; enabled them to require fewer concessions to effect change; and made them more likely to adopt changes more quickly.