Way back in a lockdown, many moons ago we took a good, long look at what we could do to make life better for our team and our business. This led us to some major decisions, as well as many minor ones.
Full-time over 4 days
We decided to let any full-time team members have the choice between working their hours over 4 or 5 days. Overwhelmingly they opted for the 4 longer days with their non-contact time, which is used for training and planning, being done whilst working from home.
Real Living Wage
Why pay the Real Living Wage?
The first and still the most compelling answer is that it is morally right, it epitomises the values that we believe in. This wage is what an independent charity calculates as the wage needed by employees and their families to afford to live. This isn’t going to facilitate a high standard of living, it is simply what people need to get by on. It isn’t age-related like the National Minimum/Living Wage which has a scale up to the age of 23 years, this is for every employee aged 18 years or above.
The Real Living Wage is the right choice.
There are other benefits beyond this.
It is good for Beach Babies, it makes educational and business sense. Our team members are happier, less stressed and as such, have increased motivation and the emotional capacity to support those around them, children and adults. We have a happy, positive and peaceful environment which allows us to help the children develop to their best capability.
Happy employees are positive employees.
It has helped with retention which in an industry currently desperate for staff means that recently we have had to sadly turn down excellent, well-qualified staff who have approached us for work. We have a team who are stable, many having been with us for over a decade and this means we can focus on knowing the children in our care, not on constantly inducting new people into our ways.
It contributes to a community which supports and takes care of every person in it, team members, children and their families. In difficult and uncertain times we all need this, we see every member of the community through the good and the bad bits of life whilst providing a constant, secure environment for the children.
We take care of our employees.
We are proud to be an accredited Living Wage employer and urge other businesses to join us.
By Tracy Hutchison
