Today, Ridge Crest Cleaning Services became our 112th Recognised Service Provider, announcing their commitment to ensure their cleaning teams are valued, by encouraging the clients they have contracts with to pay a bid that pays a real Living Wage. Susannah Clements, Commercial Manager explains why signing up to become a Recognised Service Provider was important to the company.
Ridge Crest Cleaning Services is a daily building cleaning services contractor operating predominantly within the public sector, particularly within schools and academies. We have always appreciated that the people within our cleaning teams are the ones ultimately delivering value to our customers day in, day out and we have worked hard to encourage our clients to pay those people at a rate that they can live on. We joined the Recognised Service Provider Scheme as a means of really solidifying those core values within our organisation and providing an easy way to communicate that with our clients
Our Head Office and internal staff are all paid at the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation and this means that they can live their lives with a balance between work that pays and time to spend at home with their family. Our staff turnover is particularly low within our industry and this stability comes in no small part from us recognising and rewarding everyone within the Ridge Crest team with attractive pay and bonus schemes based on performance. As we have demonstrated the benefits of paying all staff at the Living Wage we have actively sought to bring on board existing and potential clients so that they can see these benefits within their contracts.
As the experts within our sector, our clients look to us to advise them on appropriate rates of pay and we believe that it is our responsibility to champion the Living Wage, spelling out the benefits it can bring to both the employed staff and ultimately to the clients themselves. Paying cleaning operatives at the Living Wage makes for more successful recruitment, reduced rates of absence, and a more motivated workforce. Altogether we have find time and again that on the contracts committed to honouring the Living Wage, we have a happier and more stable workforce, which then provides a higher quality service.
The cleaning sector is historically associated with low pay. However, the unavoidable truth for our schools and offices is that they simply cannot function without a safe and clean environment for the people that work and study in them. Paying the people delivering this service a real Living Wage demonstrates that value, and makes sure that as a society we are treating people in an equitable and fair way.