Christchurch based Smiths City Group has recently been in the spotlight for being ordered to back pay 6 years worth of 'unpaid' pre-work meetings to sales staff, costing an estimated $1.5M.
However, in celebrating their 100th anniversary last month they have new initiatives to win back the support and loyalty of their 591 staff and have committed to give all staff an extra day of annual leave this
calendar year, and to ensure all
staff are earning at least the living wage from October this year.
The living wage is currently calculated to be
$20.55 per hour, or $42,744 per annum, by the New Zealand Family
Centre Social Policy Unit.
CEO Roy
Campbell is quoted saying "We want our staff to be enthusiastic
and excited about their work; to feel that they are
benefitting personally from working at Smiths City, and that
they are learning new skills and gaining the experience to
develop an enduring and prosperous career with the
organisation and in the retail sector...Fundamental to the
development of this culture is paying Smiths City people
fairly for a fair day’s work"