Our journey to real living wage accreditation

In April 2020, as part of the transformation of our organisation, Capita made the decision to pay all colleagues in the UK the real living wage as a minimum. For the financial year 2020/21, this equated to £9.50 for roles outside of London and £10.85 for those in London. 

Unlike the minimum wage, the real living wage aligns to the annual cost of living and is voluntarily paid by employers. Capita is progressing toward official accreditation by the Living Wage Foundation for paying the real living wage, and we aim to achieve this recognition later this year.

Capita is a purpose-led, responsible business and there were four key drivers behind our CEO, Jon Lewis’, decision to pay the real living wage:

It’s the right thing to do – Capita has over 37,000 staff throughout the UK and all our people and teams do vital, challenging work and deserve to be compensated appropriately for it. When John announced our real living wage policy, he noted that our colleagues “are the lifeblood of the business. Without our people, none of our achievements would be possible.”

Talent – In Capita’s UK marketplaces, it’s quite simply impossible to recruit the very best talent if the real living wage isn’t part of our offer. As our organisation’s core goal is to deliver better outcomes for our clients and citizens across the UK, we need to attract and retain the best possible people to deliver our services. The real living wage decision not only ensures we attract brilliant people, but it also has a hugely positive impact on staff retention and satisfaction.

Social value – Another huge contributory factor in our decision to pay the real living wage is our belief in social value and social mobility. We strive every day to make a difference for our clients, but our purpose is bigger than that. We are a business that makes a huge impact to millions of people, their families and wider communities. It’s a huge privilege – but also a huge responsibility, and one we don’t take lightly or underestimate.

It also makes great business sense – 93% of organisations who pay the real living wage have benefited since their accreditation, whether in terms of reputation, morale, staff retention or competitor differentiation. Capita operates in an incredibly competitive environment, and we know that taking this step will not only be great for our staff, but for our clients, partners, and shareholders. You can read more about why the real living wage makes great business sense here.

It’s for the above reasons that we’re focused on working towards full real living wage accreditation in 2021. We know that our people deserve it, and our clients benefit from it. For us, it’s a simple decision, but a hugely important one. And one we’re incredibly proud of.