As reported here in the summer, The Living Wage Foundation has brought forward their announcement of the annual Living Wage/London Living Wage increase. The new figures are £10.90 (90p increase)/£11.95 (£1 increase) respectively – the largest ever annual increase (last year’s figures are here).
The announcement was made in late September instead of late November when it’s usually made.
Employers should implement the rise as soon as possible but by the latest 14th May 2023 if they are to retain their status as a Living Wage Employer.
The standard practice for this is “announce November, implement by May”. The early announcement won’t change the May date, but as with everything else, the period of rapidly rising inflation is one that is so unfamiliar to everyone that they are still acting the way they always have done.
The difference between September and May in normal times would be small amounts of money. Now it’s a lot more and the long wait will hurt a lot of people. It would make sense for all workers to appeal to employers to bring this increase forward wherever possible. It is worth bearing in mind that the increase announced in 2021 (implemented in spring 2022) didn’t foresee the huge rise in inflation that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So, all in all, even people working for Living Wage employers will be losing a lot of income when its weighted for inflation.