First Bus has become an accredited Real Living Wage (RLW) employer as of 1 April.
The operator’s signing up to the voluntary scheme means every employee, as well as workers employed through third-party contractors, is now being paid at least £12 per hour across the UK and £13.15 per hour in London.
First Group documents indicate that more than 97% of its employees were already earning the same or more than RLW.
RLW is different to the government’s compulsory National Living Wage, which is set at £11.44 per hour across the UK for those aged 21 and over.
First Bus Managing Director, Janette Bell, says: “We are delighted to be working with the Living Wage Foundation and are thrilled to be become a fully accredited real Living Wage employer. This has an immediate positive impact for 1,300 of our colleagues with a pay rise from today and we are once again demonstrating to our people and the market that we care.
“Engaged employees encourage customers to travel more often. So, by treating our employees well, we are also helping to achieve our mission to get people out of their cars and onto the bus.
“We want First Bus to be a place where our people feel welcome, can be their true selves and succeed. It is vital that we do all we can to support our colleagues, and this is another important step in our transformation journey.”
Other coach and bus operators accredited as one of the 14,000 RLW employers are: Stagecoach London, Abellio London, Transport for London, Diamond North West, Metroline, Cardiff Bus, Shuttle Buses, National Express, Kineil Coaches, KT’s Coaches of Kendal, Stotts Tours (Oldham), Shandon Travel, Prentice Coaches and Longmynd Travel.
