Its Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at SNIPEF receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.50. This rate is higher than the statutory minimum for over 25s of £8.72 per hour introduced in April 2020.

Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis, recognising the value of their workers and ensuring that a hard day’s work receives a fair day’s pay. Right now, is when standing by these values matters the most and employers who do right by workers and families are the ones that will help lead through and out of this crisis.

Stephanie Lowe, HR manager at SNIPEF, said: “At SNIPEF, we are committed to supporting our staff and making sure they are earning a fair pay. Now we can say that we are officially accredited employers. Our members put the needs of their staff at the forefront by paying the Plumbing Industry Wage Rates, which are higher than the Living Wage.”

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “We are delighted that SNIPEF has become an accredited Living Wage employer. The real Living Wage is one of the key tools at our disposal to help make an impact on levels of in-work poverty in Scotland and is more important now than ever before.

“This announcement comes during Living Wage week, which is the annual celebration of the Living Wage movement in the UK. During this week, Living Wage Scotland and accredited employers host a series of online events, focused upon the theme of the Living Wage.

“This pandemic has shown just how important the Living Wage is for employers and for society and we congratulate SNIPEF on joining the network of more than 1800 Scottish employers who believe in going beyond the government minimum.”

Lynn Anderson from Living Wage Scotland said: “We are delighted to welcome SNIPEF to the Living Wage movement. We are a movement of over 1800 Scottish employers who together want to go further than the government minimum to make sure that everyone can earn a decent standard of living and families have what they need to thrive.

“Our network includes lots of smaller employers as well as larger and iconic Scottish employers like SSE, Standard Life Aberdeen, Barrs, Brewdog, D.C. Thomson and many more.

“Employers like SNIPEF are helping to set the standard for business in Britain by making sure that workers have what they need to get by, and we hope to see many more employers following its example.”