ONE of Herefordshire’s biggest employers is celebrating Living Wage Week by promoting the benefits of signing up to the nationwide scheme.

Bill payment solution specialists allpay became the first Living Wage employer in the county in 2014.

And the Whitestone business was the winner of the 2016 Living Wage Champion award in recognition of the support given to staff.

The Living Wage foundation sets the hourly rate required for employees to be recognised for being rewarded a fair day’s pay.

The real Living Wage – currently set at £8.75 per hour – is the only UK wage rate that is voluntarily paid by more than 3,500 employers to date and its main aim is to provide employees with a better standard of living.

Steve Foulger, allpay’s HR director, said the decision to sign up to the scheme is a moral one, and one his company is proud to take.

“The difference between paying the National Minimum Wage and the Accredited Living Wage for some companies may be the difference between staying in business or not,” he added.

“For all others, it is the difference between what is legally required and what is ethically right.

“The Accredited Living Wage is set at the rate it is, for a reason.

“It is the real benchmark we should be measuring ourselves against.

“There will always be exceptions and companies whose models can’t sustain this change yet, but for every company that can, they should.”

And when allpay asked employees for a snapshot of how they felt about the Living Wage, the responses ranged from feeling proud to be part of a workforce who considers the employee as a priority, to it providing financial stability.