St. Ermin’s Hotel commits to Real Living Wage

St Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster has announced it has been accredited as a Living Wage employer, marking the hotel’s commitment to ensure all staff receive a minimum hourly wage of £11.05 for London.

This marks an increase from the government’s minimum wage for over 23s, which currently stands at £9.50 per hour.

St Ermin’s Hotel has also required all its partner agencies to align with the London Living Wage. 

The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, as opposed to the government minimum. 

Since 2011, the Living Wage movement has reportedly delivered a pay rise to over 300,000 people and put over £1.6bn extra into the pockets of low-paid workers.

Douglas McHugh, St Ermin’s general manager, said: “We’re truly delighted to be able to make this commitment, much delayed due to the pandemic and welcomed by all staff at the hotel. It recognises our philosophy as an employer and a business and underlines the importance of many of the traditionally low paid jobs in our industry.”

Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, added: “We’re delighted that St Ermin’s Hotel has joined the movement of almost 9,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on. 

“They join thousands of businesses which recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer, believing that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”