Over 30 employees at five Coventry extra care services are to receive two pay rises within three months.
Charity Making Space, which provides 24 hour residential care at Bevan Court in Cheylesmore, Alexandra House in Henley Green, Princethorpe Court in Binley, Willowbrook Court in Canley and Poppy Court in Willenhall has announced it will pay all 36 employees across the five schemes a minimum of £9.90 per hour from April 2022.
The figure has been calculated as the voluntary ‘real living wage’ recommended by the Living Wage Foundation.
The increase will see full-time support workers earn an additional £1,700 each year.
This is to be the second pay rise for the essential workers this year, with the charity having already started to pay the new UK statutory national living wage from January, three months ahead of schedule.
Employees on pay points already equal to or exceeding £9.90 per hour will also see their annual income increase, with 85% of all Making Space workers receiving a rise of between 3.9% and 9.2% by April 2022.
The current minimum hourly rate for adults ranges from £6.56 to £8.91, depending on age.
Phil Orton, executive director of HR, Making Space, said: “Our long-standing aspiration has been to pay our colleagues at a rate that makes them feel rewarded for the work that they do.
“Despite working through the most challenging times over the last two years, they continue to provide outstanding care and support to some of the most vulnerable people in society.
“They deserve to be paid at a level that takes account of the real cost of living which is why we want to pay a real living wage.”
Rachel Peacock, CEO, Making Space, said: “The efforts of everyone at Making Space continue to be nothing short of incredible, particularly for those teams on the front line where the experience of the pandemic has been relentless.
“We absolutely value the hard work, commitment and sacrifice of the amazing people who provide the best quality care and support to the people that use our services.
“Bringing forward the pay increase helps us to reward those incredible efforts and show the value that we place upon our frontline roles.”
