Several of the City's leading law firms have signed up to the Evening Standard's London Living Wage Scheme, guaranteeing to pay all their staff a minimum of £7.85 per hour.
The Standard kicked off the campaign to make sure that the lowest-paid workers in the Square Mile take home £2 an hour above the official minimum wage. The likes of Goldman Sachs, UBS, JP Morgan and L'Oreal have all signed up, as have a stack of law firms. RollOnFriday contacted the top 20 by turnover and the following have all said that they are supporting the London Living Wage Campaign:
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Eversheds
Freshfields
Herbert Smith
Linklaters
Norton Rose
SJ Berwin
Slaughter and May
Some of others are "considering signing up", as Taylor Wessing put it. But there are a few bad apples. CMS Cameron McKenna admitted that whilst its contractors had "increased their employees' minimum level of pay... this is slightly below £7.85 per hour". For shame.
As for DLA Piper, UK PR Manager Nicholas Breakspeare showed a distinct lack of empathy with his 12th century papal namesake as he responded: "Which law firms have signed up to date? And curious as to what research* signals that £2 above national minimum wage marks a new good threshold?" He later confirmed that the matter was being discussed.
It's a small difference to the firms, but it should make a big difference to an army of cleaners and catering staff. Any other firms will to sign up can click here to write in. We'll separate the sheep from the goats next week.
*The answer Nicholas is research by GLA Economics, which considers the higher cost of living in the capital and the rate of inflation to come up with "a wage that achieves an adequate level of warmth and shelter, a healthy palatable diet, social integration and avoidance of chronic stress for earners and their dependents". Read all about it here.
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The Standard kicked off the campaign to make sure that the lowest-paid workers in the Square Mile take home £2 an hour above the official minimum wage. The likes of Goldman Sachs, UBS, JP Morgan and L'Oreal have all signed up, as have a stack of law firms. RollOnFriday contacted the top 20 by turnover and the following have all said that they are supporting the London Living Wage Campaign:
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Eversheds
Freshfields
Herbert Smith
Linklaters
Norton Rose
SJ Berwin
Slaughter and May
Some of others are "considering signing up", as Taylor Wessing put it. But there are a few bad apples. CMS Cameron McKenna admitted that whilst its contractors had "increased their employees' minimum level of pay... this is slightly below £7.85 per hour". For shame.
As for DLA Piper, UK PR Manager Nicholas Breakspeare showed a distinct lack of empathy with his 12th century papal namesake as he responded: "Which law firms have signed up to date? And curious as to what research* signals that £2 above national minimum wage marks a new good threshold?" He later confirmed that the matter was being discussed.
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Nicholas Breakspeare yesterday |
It's a small difference to the firms, but it should make a big difference to an army of cleaners and catering staff. Any other firms will to sign up can click here to write in. We'll separate the sheep from the goats next week.
*The answer Nicholas is research by GLA Economics, which considers the higher cost of living in the capital and the rate of inflation to come up with "a wage that achieves an adequate level of warmth and shelter, a healthy palatable diet, social integration and avoidance of chronic stress for earners and their dependents". Read all about it here.