Liz Davies: Living wage a win-win for businesses and worker

OPINION: Being a living wage employer makes good business sense. Photo / Getty

OPINION

Over 250 businesses and organisations are living wage employers in New Zealand, including SociaLink and The Kollective.

SociaLink aims to strengthen and give a voice to Western Bay of Plenty's social service providers and community organisations.

This includes managing the purpose-built The Kollective which provides a co-working space for dozens of not-for-profits and businesses that align with the work of not-for-profits.

Paying employees and contractors the living wage is often regarded just as a cost. Yet living wage employers often see decreased staff turnover and absenteeism, a more productive work environment and increased business – all of which either results in savings, increased revenue, or better yet, both.

In a tight labour market, being a living wage employer sets a business apart and attracts employees, most of whom want to work for an employer who cares about them and their community.

Being a living wage employer makes good business sense.

Currently the minimum wage is $20 per hour while the living wage will be $22.75 per hour from September 2021.

This rate which works out at $910 gross per week has been calculated by the Family Centre Social Policy Research Unit and is considered to be the absolute minimum wage necessary to get people out of poverty, survive and participate as active citizens in society.

I struggle to see how a person can live on this amount, given local housing costs, even with any supplements they may be entitled to from Government.

This is reflected in social services such as the Food Bank and the Budget Advisory Service seeing more and more people who are working but are unable to cover their living costs, the growing population of the "working poor".

Another alarming sign of the struggle many people are facing is the estimated 3 per cent or over 4000 people experiencing homelessness in Tauranga, including some people who are working, according to the Vital Signs report released in 2020.

Poverty is growing in Tauranga and the western Bay of Plenty.

Tauranga has 11,240 people living in the most deprived communities (levels 9 and 10 on the deprivation index) which is significantly higher than the number of people living in areas of high deprivation in Ōpōtiki, well known for its high deprivation.

This is compounded by growing income inequality in Tauranga where it is increasingly evident who are the "haves" and "have nots".

Most businesses want to do right by their employees and want to contribute positively to their community. If there is one thing an employer could do to help their employees and community it would be to pay the living wage.

Find more information here.

- Liz Davies is the general manager of SociaLink