MSP for the Angus South Constituency, Graeme Dey, marked Living Wage Week 2018 with fellow living wage employer Angus Housing Association.

Announced on November 5 as part of Living Wage Week, the new real Living Wage is £9 per hour for those people working outside London, and is based on the cost of living.

Graeme Dey MSP has called on more local employers to explore the benefits of accreditation, with research showing paying the real Living Wage leads to a fall in absenteeism and a significant impact on recruitment and staff retention.

On a visit to Angus Housing Association’s Arbroath headquarters, Mr Dey welcomed the organisation’s commitment to the living wage.

He said: “The real Living Wage can make a huge difference to both workers and employers.

“During Living Wage Week 2018, I’m calling on employers in the Angus South Constituency to realise the real benefits that paying the living wage brings to an organisation.”

Director of Angus Housing Association, Bruce Forbes, added: “Angus Housing Association originally signed up very early to paying the Living Wage. This was in 2010 as part of an agreement reached between our employer’s organisation, Employers in Voluntary Housing, and the trade union, Unite.

“As a landlord, we provide homes for many families on low incomes and know the challenges that they face in paying for the basics of life. We have always been of the view, therefore, that as an employer, we should strive to pay a decent, living wage.

“We are pleased that the commitment to the Living Wage has been embraced recently by the other local Housing Associations and by an ever widening range of other employers. Treating staff with dignity, and just as importantly, paying them a decent wage is the mark of a good employer and a decent society.”