Luton Town: League Two club makes living wage commitment

Every member of staff at Luton Town, including casual matchday employees, will be paid at least £7.85 an hour

Luton Town have become the first Football League club to commit to paying every employee the living wage.

Premier League club Chelsea are the only other fully professional English team to receive accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.

The living wage is based on the amount needed to cover the basic costs of living and is currently £7.85 an hour, and £9.15 an hour in London.

Luton will pay the wage to permanent staff and third-party contractors.

On Thursday, Premier League clubs agreed to commit to paying their full-time staff the living wage by the start of the 2016-17 season, but not to sub-contracted staff.

Non-league side FC United of Manchester and Scottish club Hearts are the only other teams in the UK to be accredited by the Living Wage Foundation.

The Living Wage Foundation's Rhys Moore said of the Premier League announcement: "It is definitely a move in the right direction, however the vast majority of low paid work in the Premier League is with sub contractors.

"This commitment doesn't address that, which is why we think Living Wage accreditation is so important."

Moore added: "Luton's commitment to the Living Wage is clear, and I'm sure they will be a champion of it across the football and sports sector, as well as in their local community."

Luton chief executive Gary Sweet said: "We're delighted to have been given full accreditation which will help ensure a fair level of pay enabling a better work-life balance to all our staff.

"We hope that in making this commitment, other teams, especially those further up the football pyramid with far bigger budgets than ours will follow suit."