The Real Living Wage

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 24 November 2021.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 2:03, 24 November 2021

I thank John Griffiths for his follow-up question, and you're absolutely right there that the living wage is important and it's key, but it should always be seen as a baseline rather than a benchmark, and those other things you listed around terms and conditions, security of employment and progression are incredibly important as well. Using the threat of dismissal—we've heard of fire and rehire to tear up terms and conditions agreed in good faith—is an abuse of employer power, and we're clear that fire and rehire practices are not consistent whatsoever with our values here in the Welsh Government of fair work and social partnership. So, alongside the work we're doing to perhaps break down some of the barriers that some employers may find in terms of moving towards living wage adoption and living wage accreditation, it's also how we can use all those mechanisms in our fair work and social partnership approach to improve the well-being of people in work but also to demonstrate the benefits for the workforce of using all those levers we have through procurement and through grant funding as well.