Executive Search Associates

I received an email from a colleague in the U.K. that had this logo that said “we are a living wage employer”.  Being naturally curious, I googled this term and discovered that in the U.K., like the United States, there seems to be a large disparity between what some employers pay and the cost of living in that same community.  Additionally, in the U.K. you can agree to pay the “living wage”, go through and application and certification process to be a “living wage employer”. As a recruiter, I immediately recognized this as an excellent recruiting and retention strategy.  As a human, I see the social justice and community benefit in paying people well above the poverty level.

In light of the current election cycle and all of the banter about “raising minimum raise” vs. “letting the market set minimum wage”, social justice, healthcare access and affordability and more it got me thinking.  What is a fair wage?  Currently, the US Department of Labor and our local state government set minimum wage and our guidelines.  Right now the government says a fair wage is anywhere from the minimum up to “whatever you can get somebody to pay you”.  The bible says “the cries of workers denied their wages are heard by God”.

So, what’s the difference.  I found this chart, produced by MIT, that shows the different living wages in the US.  I found it to be frighteningly accurate for my local community.  Employers, I would invite you to take a look and compare your pay rates with the “living wage” for your employees.  MIT Living Wage Calculator

I was surprised at the disparity between the minimum wage and the living wage in my community.  I am not saying we should immediately raise the federal minimum wage to $15.00 per hour (sorry Bernie!), but perhaps consideration should be given to having a voluntary program.

My instincts say “keep the government out of it”, but our government isn’t out of “it”.  The government is firmly established in the thick of “it”, heck some days it seems like they are “it”.  They will never be out of our business again.  I think the last thing we need is another big government program that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to run.

Perhaps as small business owners, we should consider taking this in to our own hands and deal with living wages proactively.  Perhaps if we are talking tax incentives for small business (or big business for that matter!), a tax incentive for going through living wage certification and paying your workers above the poverty level would be a good incentive.

Just a few thoughts, I would be interested in your thoughts as well.  Please do some research, form your thoughts on minimum wage vs. living wage and share.