Radfield champions UK national ‘Living Wage Week 2020’

Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood has been celebrating UK national ‘Living Wage Week 2020‘, a campaign that launched on November 9th showcasing the benefits of offering a ‘Living Wage’ to both employees and clients.

As a Living Wage foundation accredited employer Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood guarantees their care professionals receive the independently calculated ‘real’ Living Wage rate – the only UK rate based on actual living costs and is recalculated annually. As of November 2020 an impressive 78% of Radfield Home Care’s network have become Living Wage accredited, demonstrating Radfield’s commitment to fair and transparent pay for their care professionals.

The Living Wage Week 2020 campaign itself saw focus placed on employers within the health and social care sector, due to the vital role care assistants play in society and the importance that paying a real living wage has upon retaining and developing highly skilled carers.

Lisa Cable, Co-Director of Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood offers her thoughts on the importance and relevance of becoming a Living Wage Accredited employer, and the benefits it affords to both care professionals and clients alike:

Why did you become a living wage employer?

“We became a living wage accredited employer in 2020, because we felt it was important to recognise that we pay our team an agreed upon wage that actually meets the needs of their everyday living. Our care professionals need to know they can afford to pay for their bills, the weekly shop and have some money set aside for unexpected expenses. The Living Wage represents this important standard of living and the accreditation highlights our long term commitment to being a Living Wage employer.”

What are the main benefits Radfield can offer to its care professionals by being a living wage employer?

“We feel that the Living Wage benefits our care professionals as it provides them with a level of financial security that they can meet their financial obligations each month. The Care sector overall is not a well paid sector and initiatives such as the Living Wage are helping to set a new more realistic baseline wage for employees. We actively encourage our staff and prospective carers to check the actual wage they earn by checking the Govt. living wage calculator tool.

Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood is excited to be part of something that helps address the wage imbalance in the care sector and to be part of the solution to rectify this.”

What are the benefits to Radfield’s valued clients?

“We believe that if care professionals are fairly and transparently compensated then they are more likely to stay in the caring profession. This is now even more important than ever with an ageing population and a need for more healthcare professionals in the workforce.

For us, we know that offering the Living Wage means being a care professional at Radfield is viewed as an affordable career choice and one for the longer term. This allows Radfield care professionals to build their skills and experience – all ensuring our clients receive the consistent, high quality care we are passionate about providing.”

Being an accredited Living Wage home care Provider benefits not just Radfield’s clients and care professionals, but also the wider adult social care sector. Promoting and championing the concept of a real living wage means Radfield is pushing the agenda for change on low care sector wages. Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood is proud to be able to play a part in this.

If you would like to find out more about Radfield Home Care jobs and how you can join the team, you can visit www.radfieldhomecare.co.uk or contact the office directly [email protected] or 01708 609 364.