Peter McMahon’s Post

Our core values guide and motivate us to engage in meaningful work that serves our priority communities. As a mission-first nonprofit operating and navigating the traditional philanthropic space, we embrace the principle of "solidarity over charity." This shared purpose means valuing, investing in, respecting, and empowering those who drive and are impacted by social changes, ensuring they are compensated equitably, so they don't qualify for public assistance or low-income programs themselves. By strengthening our workplace practices, we reduce any chance of replicating or perpetuating the inequalities we seek to solve, fostering a sense of partnership and shared power with the people we work with and the communities we serve. Whether working on the frontlines of a charity or within a supply chain of a for-profit company, every person deserves to live a life of dignity, safety, and have their basic needs met—which begins with fair economic compensation. With a commitment to Ontario Living Wage Network, GOOD TO BE GOOD is dedicated to 'fighting inequity with equity' by regularly reviewing our current living wages and utilizing local wage surveys to meet or surpass the median for our regions. We prioritize analyzing our organizational values to assess if our compensation practices align with them. We leverage our values to develop philosophies regarding compensation within our organization. From an executive standpoint, we're committed to sustaining a healthy ratio between the highest and lowest-paid team members to mitigate wage disparities—most often disproportionately affecting women of colour—while telling the full narrative to backers, allies, and partners when it comes to what's needed to compensate work fairly and successfully. - The Board of GOOD TO BE GOOD (Char San Pedro, Shreya Patel, Tenika Bennett)

A coalition of local employers has today launched a campaign to make Newcastle a Living Wage City! 🙌🎉🎇 An Action Group made up of local businesses, charities and public sector organisations launched a plan, which has been recognised by the Living Wage Foundation, to substantially increase the number of accredited Living Wage employers in Newcastle. The launch was celebrated at Newcastle United's St James Park stadium. There are currently 174 Living Wage employers based in Newcastle, all committed to paying their staff the real Living Wage. Accredited employers in Newcastle include Newcastle United Football Club, The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bellway Homes, Citizens Advice, The Town Mouse Ale House and many others. Research published last month found that the North East of England has the highest levels of low pay in the UK (15.9% of jobs) and 170,000 jobs paying below the real Living Wage. Find out more by following the link in the comments 👇 #Newcastle #LivingWage #newcastleupontyne #cities

In case you missed it but most employers (private, charity, public sector etc) who employ people on salaries above £5k will be paying an extra £600pa on NI BEFORE the 1.2% NI rise announced. This is as a result of the lowering of the threshold limit. If you employ a 100 people that is the equivalent of 2 people on £30k each. There are circa 5.94 million public sector employees so that adds £3.56bn to the public sector wage bill, or our taxes BEFORE the NI rise. Sneaky little tax rise.

Amidst industrial dispute from workers over low pay, Sanctuary Housing has canceled a £500 retention bonus payment introduced to thousands of staff at the height of the cost-of-living crisis. Sanctuary Housing revenues for last year stood at £943 million, with its surplus increasing by 73% to £101.3 million. While CEO, Craig Moule, is paid £380,000 per annum, the £500 bonus payment is being axed just a year after implementation, despite some of its workers reporting having to use food banks. All the while, workers have already been striking over real terms pay cut. Unite the Union general secretary Sharon Graham said: "It is inconceivable that Sanctuary is taking away a much-needed payment for thousands of UK workers just a year after it was introduced. This is an organisation with a £100 million surplus and it has workers in Hackney reporting using foodbanks because pay is so low. Sanctuary is behaving like the worst of corporate employers, but it is a non-profit organisation that should pay its workers fairly. Strikes by its London maintenance workers are growing, with new staff joining the picket line all the time. They have Unite's backing all the way in their fight for a reasonable pay rise." #UnitetheUnion #JobsPayConditions #SacntuaryHousing #NonProfit #NonProfitSector #CharitySector

Benchmarking salaries… Stop it! All you are doing is copying shit salaries and particularly with the charity sector, keeping them that way for over 10 years. Our sector needs to stop apologising for giving employees a decent liveable wage based on their experience and expertise. After all it essentially prevents them from becoming beneficiaries themselves. Let’s as a sector lead by example!

A great read from Next Dimension Accounting! The salary packaging thresholds could definitely do with a review. Check out the article, complete with thoughts from our very own Tony Vitacca!

In 1986, salary-sacrificing benefits gave not-for-profits (NFPs) a competitive edge in attracting staff. Nearly 40 years later, while living costs and wages have increased, these caps have barely changed. What was once a powerful tool has become outdated, leaving NFPs struggling to compete with the commercial sector for top talent. Without government reform, this system will continue to hinder the sector’s potential. It’s time to modernise salary-sacrificing benefits and give NFPs the support they need to thrive. #NotForProfit #CharitySector #SalarySacrificing #Reform Read more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gk9m6Hmn

This has been an article I've been wanting to write for some time. It's crazy to think that for nearly 40 years, salary-sacrificing benefits—once a significant advantage for NFPs in attracting and retaining talent—have not kept pace with inflation or wage growth.

Did you know? 1. The UK is the third most expensive place in the world to buy childcare (based on a couple earning the average wage*). 2. UK private rental prices increased 5.7% overall (provisional estimate) in the year to September 2023 (the largest annual percentage change since this UK data series began in January 2016).** 3. Prices of food and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 12.2% in the year to September 2023***. We believe that no one should be alone on their journey when life is hard. Faithworks work alongside people, practically building hope and resilience. We want every single person locally to be within 15 minutes of a place of welcome that radiates life, community, and immediate help. We run practical projects around food, finance, homelessness and lone parenting in urban Dorset, collaborating with councils, other charities and local churches. #Faithworks #DebtAdvice *OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development) **ONS (Office for National Statistics) *** CPIH (Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs)

Impact of Imminent Budget The newspapers today are reporting the assumed % increase in employers national insurance and quoting the UK Government saying the burden will not be on "working people" but on the private sector, as if all businesses are extractive profit orientated machines that can well afford it.....and by some magic "working people" won't be affected. But what Rachel Reeves seems to not realise or acknowledge is that this financial hit will also impact on asset locked charities and social enterprises which are under increasing pressure to be sustainable in a very demanding environment often with fixed grants that won't rise with these changes. These organisations are providing the preventative services that are directly reducing demand on the NHS and the public services she wants to invest in. For this sector this increase won't affect the bonuses of wealthy shareholders but will impact on services to communities and individuals. And may well impact on the "working people" who are its employees. An Employers NI freeze or reduction for charities and social enterprises is needed to secure front line services in all our communities.