Major Auckland Employer Signals Move To Living Wage

One of West Auckland’s largest employers, the Trusts, will move its entire workforce to a living wage.

The move is set to benefit more than 305 staff across the organisation’s 35 retail stores, hospitality venues and hotels.

The first stage of the introduction of the living wage to take effect in April 2021, will see a new minimum wage rate of $20.75 per hour, which is 75 cents above the government’s new minimum wage level, with all waged employees who currently earn above the minimum wage also receiving an increase of $1.35 per hour.

Linda Cooper, president of the Waitakere Licensing Trust says the move will set a new standard for the hospitality industry.

“We want the Trusts to continue to be a great place to work, and we believe the decision to move to a living wage further strengthens our commitment to our team and to the West Auckland community we serve,” she says..

Both the Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts have committed to adopting a full living wage by April 2023. They will review financial performance at the end of the 2021 calendar year and may consider moving to this level earlier if there is the ability to do so.

Pam Nuttall, president of the Portage Licensing Trust says the move will go some way to recognise the contribution of their staff to the success of the organisation.

“This is an important milestone for the Trusts and is the result of a lot of constructive and thoughtful debate, and hard work by our management team, to help make it a reality. We believe paying a living wage is just one way we can thank and acknowledge our team for their hard work, and we will continue to offer our wider support and benefits, including our award-winning career development programmes,” she says.

Trusts CEO Allan Pollard says the Trusts team is focused on lifting its performance in the coming months and years.

“Our focus is on becoming a high performing business that delivers value and support back to West Auckland. To do that, we are working hard to better manage our costs and lift our sales and service performance, so we continue to deliver important initiatives like this for the community and our people,” he says.

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