Aviva becomes ‘Living Hours’ employer

We’re proud to announce that, along with Standard Life Aberdeen, we’ve become the first accredited Living Hours employers. 

Since April 2014 we’ve been a Living Wage employer, paying our employees the real Living Wage – currently £9.30 in the UK or £10.75 in London.  This new accreditation means we will also provide them with a guaranteed and stable minimum number of working hours each week.

The Living Hours programme sets a new standard for employers seeking to go beyond the Living Wage in their commitment to decent work. As an accredited employer, we’ve committed to providing at least four weeks’ notice for every shift, with guaranteed payment if shifts are cancelled within this notice period. We’ll also provide a guaranteed minimum of 16 working hours every week (unless the worker requests otherwise), and a contract that accurately reflects hours worked.

These Living Hours accreditations come amid strong public support for such measures during the pandemic. New polling conducted for the Living Wage Foundation shows that 84% of adults think that businesses should be required to offer guaranteed, regular shift patterns or number and frequency of working hours.

The new Living Hours standard reflects the fact that since the Living Wage campaign began in 2001, the shape of low-paid work has changed. There has been a well-documented rise in insecurity, with over 5 million workers in low-paid and insecure work on the eve of the pandemic. Since the pandemic began insecure work has become more prevalent among both key workers, who have kept the economy going, and low-paid service workers whose jobs have been most disrupted by lockdowns.