Milton Keynes Council has been accredited as a living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation.
The council has been paying its 2,600 employees the living wage rate of £8.25 an hour since April 2015.
The council has now committed to ensuring employees of contractors who work for at least two hours a day on the council’s premises or land over a period of eight consecutive weeks or more will also receive the living wage rate.
The living wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK, and is updated annually. Employers choose to pay the wage on a voluntary basis. It is distinct from the government’s statutory national living wage rate of £7.20, which will come into effect in April 2016 for employees aged 25 and over.
Pete Marland, council leader at Milton Keynes Council, said: “At the council we strive for a fair and equitable approach to paying our employees, and ensuring where we can that our contractors do the same, so we are really pleased to have received the official ‘stamp of approval’ from the Living Wage Foundation.”
Sarah Vero, foundation director at the Living Wage Foundation, added: “We are delighted to welcome Milton Keynes Council to the living wage movement as an accredited employer. This is a huge commitment to tackling the challenge of in-work poverty, particularly in challenging sectors such as social care.”