SSE celebrates 10 years as a Living Wage Employer

It’s September 2013, Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’ is number one in the charts, David Cameron is Prime Minister, and the UK’s real Living Wage rate is £7.45 an hour (outside of London). And SSE is accredited a real Living Wage employer, part of a movement of nearly 400 employers, one of only three FTSE 100 companies, and the only energy company to do so.

Everyone matters

The rationale for seeking accreditation was to recognise the contribution every employee makes to SSE’s success. This meant no one in SSE earns simply a statutory minimum wage; rather, they earn a LivingWage.  A rate that is set so a person can cover their basic living costs – housing, bills, food and work travel - and have a bit left over to cope with life's unexpected emergencies.

Of course, a company like SSE should pay its employees a decent wage so they can live a fulfilling life.  That’s why we went further committing to working with supply partners to ensure everyone who worked regularly on an SSE site would also receive at least the Living Wage.

11,000 accredited Living Wage employers

Fast forward to September 2023 and the charts are not really a thing, but TikTok is, Rishi Sunak is now Prime Minister and the UK Living Wage is £10.90. SSE is now part of a movement of over 11,000 companies who are Living Wage employers. Furthermore, SSE is one of the first companies to become Living Hours accredited, in recognition, that employee income can also be affected by irregular and unpredictable hours.

10 years as a Living Wage employer has seen much change. The world has experienced a pandemic, wars and a current cost of living crisis. However, SSE’s commitment to providing a decent wage remains utterly consistent.

Abundance of opportunity

We’ve learned that solid foundations like the real Living Wage and the Fair Tax Mark, provide a platform from which we can pursue the abundance of opportunity associated with climate action.  So in the coming months and years we will seek out new ways to support both direct and indirect employees such as furthering our work on the roll out of Living Hours throughout our supply chain. We look back with pride and look to the future with expectation.