As of the 1st of February 2016, the University of Manchester Conferences (UMC) Limited now pay its staff a minimum of £8.25—the living wage as set by the Living Wage Foundation.
UMC is owned by the University of Manchester and runs Chancellors Hotel, The Chancellors Collection, FoodOnCampus, FoodInResidence and BarsInResidence on behalf of the university.
The company have said that the pay increase is just one of their planned actions within catering services, aimed at “developing and improving their financial performance and service quality.”
The new rate is £1.05 per hour more than the National Living Wage to be introduced by the government from April 2016. The government’s Living Wage will be paid to all UK employees over 25 years old. UMC have, however, announced that they will pay £8.25 to all staff regardless of their age.
In responses to this decision, the University of Manchester’s Student’s Union’s Living Wage Campaign told The Mancunion that they “are delighted by the news.”
The campaign organisers added that “this is a massive win for fair pay in the work place here at the University of Manchester, as over 300 members of staff will benefit from this change.”
However they urged the whole university to follow in UMC’s footsteps stating that they need to “follow its commitment to social responsibility and become an accredited living wage employer for all its staff and subsidiary companies.”
