In Ireland there is a legal Minimum Hourly Wage – which all employers must adhere to. You can see details of the current Minimum Wage in Ireland
There is also a voluntary Living Wage rate – which is being pushed by Unions and other organisations. No one is obliged to pay the Living Wage (yet)
The current Living Wage is €11.70 per hour (Compared to legal Minimum wage of €9.55 per hour )
Ireland’s largest unions have been pushing for the living wage of €11.70 per hour to replace the current minimum wage, which was increased to €9.55 at the start of the year.
A small amount of employers already pay at least the Living Wage in Ireland – these include Aldi . Ikea and SSE Airtricity.
The concept of a Living Wage is based working out how what is an adequate income to enable individuals to afford a socially acceptable standard of living. A living wage which provides for needs not wants . It is based on figures from Budget Standards research which establishes the cost of a Minimum Essential Standard of Living in Ireland .
Earnings below the living wage suggest employees are forced to do without certain essentials so they can make ends-meet.
The Living Wage Technical Group was established in 2014 and worked to establish a methodology for calculating the Republic of Ireland Living Wage.
The current members of the group are:
Dr Michéal Collins, UCD
Dr Seán Healy, Social Justice Ireland
Dr Bernadette Mac Mahon, Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice
Dr Nat O’Connor, Ulster University
Michael Taft, UNITE the Union
Robert Thornton, Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice
IBec’s chief executive, Danny McCoy, said that while companies should provide a fair wage to employees, the concept of a living wage is flawed.