Did you know we’re a Living Wage Employer? Did you know that a living wage is not the same thing as the legal minimum wage?
We’re proud to be a living wage certified business since 2016 with the Ontario Living Wage Network. We decided to become a certified living wage employer to publicly show our support of the living wage initiative and our internal company commitment to “Putting People First” and be a company that values transparency, equity and integrity.
A living wage reflects what earners in a family need to bring home, based on the actual costs of living in a specific community. The living wage gets families out of severe financial stress by lifting them out of poverty and providing a basic level of economic security.
A living wage:
- enables working families to have sufficient income to cover reasonable costs
- promotes social inclusion
- supports healthy child development principles
- ensures that families are not under severe financial stress
- is a conservative, reasonable estimate
- engenders significant and wide ranging community support
- is a vehicle for promoting the benefits of social programs such as childcare
As Trent Bauman shared in the past, “The renovation sector is notorious for being linked to the underground economy where it is the wild west: there are many renovators who avoid & skirt regulations, avoid taxes and promote the ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of cost cutting, including paying terrible wages.”
Since we’ve adopted the living wage standards we’ve realized that while on the surface, it might seem to some that it costs more to pay a living wage, the benefits actually show us a different story:
- our employees stay with our company for very long periods of time
- we save time and energy on integrating staff into our company culture
- long term staff ensures we can deliver outstanding quality service to our clients
- paying staff well also helps us attract top quality people who really want to join us and stay as long term employees
- our staff take pride in working for a company that values them so highly
- it is an investment in our community and helps ensure prosperity in Waterloo Region
Since discovering these benefits for ourselves, we’ve taken steps to reach out to all of the partners we regularly contract for trades services on our projects to encourage them to explore the living wage initiative for their own businesses. When we hire subcontractors, Living Wage certification is now an indicator we use to assess potential service providers on our projects.
We fully believe that by taking care of our team with a living wage, it provides the support they need to do their best on the job for our clients as well as have a safe and comfortable home life. Strength and resilience come from trust within a community, no matter the size. We are grateful to be part of yours while we continue to support ours.
For more information on Living Wage visit www.livingwagecanada.ca & www.ontariolivingwage.ca.
Want to work with a team that is all about Putting People First?
We’d love to hear from you and we’re here to help start a conversation about your home renovation needs. Click here to Get Started or to speak with one of our Project Managers, call 519-664-2245.
