Council declines 'living wage' policy for staff

Friday, 21 September 2018

The Wellington City Council became the first council in New Zealand to become an accredited 'Living Wage Employer' in September.

The Marlborough District Council has decided against a 'living wage' policy for staff, which would have bumped everyone up to at least $20.55 an hour.

The council felt the living wage concept, based on Auckland and Wellington prices, was not a good reflection of Marlborough's lower wage average, a spokesperson said.

Banjo Brews co-owner Sandie Judge pays all her employees a living wage.

It also argued there were virtually no benefits to ratepayers and that the living wage was higher than the incomes received by many Marlborough ratepayers and residents.

The council declined the 'living wage' policy in June as part of long-term plan discussions.

Souther Water Engineering administration assistant Jasmine Wilson is one of the firm's employees earning a living wage.

Living wage is $4.05 per hour higher than minimum wage.

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Southern Water Engineering managing director Stephen Leitch says it would be 'fantastic' if the council adopted a living wage policy as it would 'set an example'.

A council spokesman said this week the council had seven staff members getting less than $20.55 an hour, though this was likely to drop to one following this year's wage review.

The remaining staff member was an apprentice who would get a pay increase once they completed their training, he said.

While the council acknowledged a living wage policy would be a 'relatively minor cost', it said that the cost would increase if the council also applied the policy to contracted workers.

'The argument for doing this is if it is 'good enough' for council employees to be paid the living wage, then it should be 'good enough' for all workers delivering council functions,' the report said.

The move would have made the council only the third accredited 'living wage' employer in the region, after Banjo Brews and Southern Water Engineering.

Southern Water Engineering managing director Stephen Leitch said it would be 'fantastic' if the council adopted a living wage policy as it would 'set an example'.

A number of New Zealand council's adopted or moved towards a living wage policy in recent weeks, including Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch.

Living wage was deemed the income necessary to provide workers and their families with the basics of life, and sat at $20.55 per hour.

The Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand website showed this was $4.05 per hour higher than the set adult minimum wage, which was $16.50 per hour.

New Zealand's living wage was calculated on the costs likely to be faced by a household of two adults and two children, using three Wellington and two Auckland focus groups.

Banjo Brews co-owner Heather McAlpine said the company made the switch after it realised having a living wage was 'the first step in having a truly sustainable business'.

'All of our business decisions are based around being an ethical, kind and sustainable business,' McAlpine said.

'We started our business with the desire to offer people a healthy alternative to other non-alcoholic drinks and we want our company to be pure and honest.

'We have a small and very loyal and lovely team. They would work for us for less than a living wage, but we want to be the best we can be for them. The benefit is that we know we are being fair.'