Al Rayan Bank supports Living Wage Week

Al Rayan Bank is putting together a range of activities to mark Living Wage Week - stressing its commitment to living the principles it believes in. The Bank was accredited as a Living Wage Employer two years ago, joining other employers and organisations nationally which voluntarily pay their employees a rate that is significantly higher than the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage, currently set at £7.50 an hour.

This year’s Living Wage Week begins on November 5, the day before the new Living Wage Rates will be announced. These are calculated to reflect the cost of living and presently stand at £9.75 per hour in London and £8.45 per hour elsewhere.

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. It is calculated according to the basic cost of living using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ for the UK. Decisions about what to include in this standard are set by the public; it is a social consensus about what people need to make ends meet.

The accreditation is further evidence of Al Rayan Bank’s ethical approach to business. The Bank has already been recognised an ethical alternative to conventional banks by the Move Your Money campaign, and Ethical Consumer magazine rated Al Rayan Bank in the top ten ethical current account providers.

An updated Living Wage Employer Map will also be launched and will feature all sixteen Al Rayan Bank branches and offices throughout the UK, including its operational headquarters in Birmingham and commercial office in London’s West End. The Bank is also putting together a range of activities including events for staff and promoting the Living Wage Foundation both on social media and in its customer newsletter Good Money.

The Bank has increase its headcount by 11% in the last year and it strongly believes that the Living Wage is part of a package of benefits that helps it to attract, and retain, its high calibre employees.

Sultan Choudhury OBE, CEO, Al Rayan Bank, said: “The Living Wage Foundation ensures a proper living wage for workers throughout the country and Al Rayan Bank is proud to be a member.

“It is important to live the principles you believe in. For Al Rayan Bank, fairness is a key principle in all our dealings. It’s why we share both risk and reward with our customers, and why we pay our employees a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. We believe that the Living Wage benefits our business, customers and employees – and therefore, society as a whole.”

Al Rayan Bank is the oldest and largest Sharia compliant retail bank in the UK*. Its funding, profits and business investment must be ethical and cannot be from businesses considered unlawful under Sharia. These include companies that deal in interest, alcohol, gambling, pornography, speculation, tobacco and the arms industry.

* Al Rayan Bank is the UK’s largest Islamic bank by assets as per latest published results