Hey Guys!
Just wanted to let you all know about one of our recent steps forward!
As most of you know, we are always looking to better ourselves at Lucy & Yak. We want to make sure everyone involved in Lucy & Yak is looked after and is happy. I know most of you are aware about what we have going on in India and how we try to look after everyone involved in the making of our designs. This is all amazing and we are so encouraged that so many of you have taken an interest in all the people involved through the production chain in India.....
But we want you to know that it isn't just the guys in India that we want to look after, our team here in the UK are equally as important. I know as a developed country we have the advantage of having systems in place that make sure people are paid the minimum wage and are looked after. But to be honest we don't think this is always good enough. The minimum wage has been proven by LivingWage.org to fall short of our basic requirements. Last year the UK goverment tried to confuse things by calling the state minimum wage 'The Living wage'. But they haven't fooled anyone, they need to give us more credit than that!
The LivingWage.org have done loads of research into how much we actually need in the UK, just to get by. They've concluded that the goverment minimum wage is not enough!! As calculated by LivingWage.org the minimum hourly rate required is £8.75 (£10.20 in London). The UK minimum wage is £7.50! That includes London!! This is £1.25 per hour less than we need for basic living! I'm sorry but that just isn't good enough. No to mention, if you are under 20 all you will get is £5.60 per hour, That is shocking! Why do we think it is OK to pay someone who will be expected to work just as hard, so much less? We understand that this may encourage employers to take on people under 20, however some poeple under 20 dont have parents as saftey nets, and are thrown into adult life very young, their rent is no less, their food costs the same! How can they survive?
Well not at Lucy & Yak!
We now employ 8 people in the UK, from the start we have agreed to pay at least £8.75 per hour to our awesome team, they are what keep us going, how could we not? That means whatever their job role, they will recieve at least this! And age is irrelevant, everyone receives the same! We have just became accredited by Livingwage.org you can read all about them and their amazing work here and the list of other amazing companies that have pleged to ensure their staff are treated in a way they deserve.
Thanks for caring
Love
Lucy, Chris and the Team