Living wage
In October 2013, the University announced its intention to pay the Living Wage Foundation Living Wage to contracted staff.
Following discussions with the the campus trade unions, Unison, Unite and the UCU, the University began paying the Living Wage from 1 January 2014. 337 staff (approximately two-thirds of whom were female) benefited immediately from the implementation of the Living Wage, with increases of between 1.2% and 6.6%.
Increases to the Living Wage Foundation's Living Wage are normally applied in November each year, following the announcement of the new rate by the Living Wage Foundation.
Exceptionally, in 2022, the University applied the 2022 increase of 10.1% from 1 September 2022, benefiting over 800 staff.
Since the University first applied the Living Wage, the lowest rate paid by the University has increased by 52% from £13,621 per year (in December 2013) to £20,688 (following the September 2022 increase to the Living Wage Foundation's Living Wage).
Further changes to Grades B and C were introduced in August 2019 and November 2022.
The rates were increased in November 2023 to reflect the 2023 increase in the Living Wage Foundation Living Wage.
Grade B
| Point | From 1 November 2023 | From 1 November 2022 | |
| L4 | Higher of L3 + 1.5% or JNCHES point 8 | £23,816 | £21,633 |
| L3 | Higher of L2 + 1.5% or JNCHES point 7 | £23,464 | £21,313 |
| L2 | Higher of L1 + 1.5% or JNCHES point 6 | £23,118 | £20,998 |
| L1 | Higher of the Living Wage or JNCHES point 5 | £22,776 | £20,688 |
Grade C
| Point | From 1 November 2023 | From 1 November 2022 | |
| L9 | Higher of L8 + 2.0% or JNCHES point 15 | £27,069 | £24,587 |
| L8 | Higher of L7 + 2.0% or JNCHES point 14 | £26,538 | £24,105 |
| L7 | Higher of L6 + 2.0% or JNCHES point 13 | £26,017 | £23,632 |
| L6 | Higher of L5 + 2.0% or JNCHES point 12 | £25,507 | £23,169 |
| L5 | Higher of L4 + 5.0% or JNCHES point 11 | £25,007 | £22,715 |
These changes provide a guaranteed difference of at least 5% between the top of Grade B and the first point of Grade C, whatever changes are agreed in the future to the Living Wage or the national payspine.
Vice-Chancellor's announcement of 11 October 2013
Dear colleagues
I am writing to let you know that we have decided to press ahead with our plans to pay the Living Wage.
This will raise the pay of staff on the first point of Grade A from £7.11 per hour to £7.45 per hour.
This has been discussed over recent weeks, including informal discussions with the unions in September. We will now be commencing more detailed discussions with trade unions. It will take a little while to reach agreement on the details of how the Living Wage will change our current grading structure and conditions of employment; but I wanted to give an early indication of the University’s commitment to pay the Living Wage and meet the needs of our lowest paid staff.
The University is committed to providing pay and conditions of employment and a working environment which maintains our position as an attractive employer, locally, nationally and internationally. We are very aware of how wider economic conditions have affected people's standard of living and hope this will go some way towards helping our lowest paid members of staff.
We will keep you posted on progress.
With best wishes
Professor Sir Steve Smith
Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive