Investigation Finds Liverpool Workers Not Being Paid 'Living Wage' Despite Previous Promise

An undercover investigation has found that Liverpool are not paying all of their workers the 'real Living Wage', despite a previous club promise.

Last November, the club claimed that their entire workforce would be receiving the Living Wage from June this year. 

They have now admitted that they are not paying the independently calculated £8.75 per hour for all workers and are currently advertising jobs for the statutory minimum of £7.38.

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Liverpool failed to disclose the fact that they would only be paying those who were directly employed by the club the Living Wage - not those who were employed through third party companies.

The Telegraph carried out an investigation online and found an advertisement for an 'event steward' from sun-contractor StadiumTM. The advert was offering offering the legal minimum wage of £7.38 per hour to those under 25 and £7.83 for those over 25. 

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Liverpool have responded by claiming that the pledge they made last year was limited to their own directly employed staff and did not extend to anyone employed through third-party companies.

A spokesperson for Liverpool said: "Some workers are employed through third-party contractors and, as part of our commitment, we are working with our suppliers to ensure that, within a maximum of three years, all third-party workers are paid the real Living Wage if they are not already.”

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Liverpool were not the only club who were the subject of an investigation. West Ham were also found to be advertising a job on their website for less than the London Living Wage, just a week after they became the third team in the Premier League to become an accredited Living Wage Employer.