About the grant

The grant amount will vary depending on the size of your business or organisation and the number of years you are committing to being accredited with the Living Wage Foundation (LWF). The maximum grant size covers accreditation costs for seven years, with smaller grants covering five years and three years also available. The grant will be calculated based on the accreditation costs as they were in April 2024 and will be paid in a lump sum within 30 days of a successful application, return of a grant agreement and verification of details.

The scheme is open from Monday 1 April 2024 and will close on Friday 28 February 2025 on a first-come, first-served basis, which will be kept under review.

Get accredited as a London Living Wage employer

Living Wage Foundation: How to get accredited

Becoming accredited with the Living Wage Foundation demonstrates your commitment to paying your employees a fair wage and supports us in our ambition to make Merton a Living Wage Place.

Grant eligibility conditions

To be eligible for this grant all the following conditions must be met:

• You must be able to provide evidence that your business or organisation’s primary registered address is in the London Borough of Merton, either through a business rates account number or business registration documentation.
• You must be able to provide evidence that you are accredited with the London Living Wage Foundation.
• Your business or organisation must employ a minimum of two employees and must no have more than 250 employees. Branches or local chapters of large organisations are not eligible unless they are separately registered and meet all other conditions.
• You must be able to provide a registered bank account that is not for personal use, for example a business account.
• Completion of Subsidy Declaration Form.

Businesses and organisations that were accredited before Monday 1 April 2024 are eligible to apply for this scheme if they meet all other eligibility criteria. The grant paid will be for future years of accreditation that applicants commit to, not historic years of accreditation.

Conditions of grant

Recipients will be required to adhere to conditions set out below. Breaching these conditions will enable us to request that the grant be repaid. The amount will be determined by officers on a case-by-case basis. Officers will exercise their discretion in determining how to approach instances of grant conditions being breached.

The conditions are as follows:

• It is expected that businesses and organisations would ensure that they are not employing less than two people, however it will not be considered a breach of the grant conditions should the headcount fall below two over the duration of the grant. Likewise, it will not be considered a breach of the grant conditions if a business or organisation expands beyond 250 employees over the duration of the grant.
• Recipients shall ensure their business or organisation remains registered in Merton for the duration of the grant. Businesses and organisations that move address but remain in the borough will not be in breach of this condition. Businesses that move outside of the borough will be requested to repay the remaining years of the grant.
• Recipients will ensure that they will remain accredited with the London Living Wage Foundation for the duration of the grant.

A grant agreement, setting out the terms of the grant and the above conditions, will be provided to successful applicants to return and sign prior to the grant being paid.

Grant application process

Eligible businesses or organisations are invited to apply by completing the application form.

Apply now

Once an application has been received, we will determine whether the eligibility criteria has been met. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application within 30 days of when the application was received, and grant payments to successful organisations will be paid upon receipt of a signed grant agreement form.

Rejected applications will be provided with feedback as to why the application was rejected. Where the reason for rejection relates to the accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation, applicants are advised to contact the Living Wage Foundation in the first instance.

Becoming accredited with the Living Wage Foundation demonstrates your commitment to paying your employees a fair wage and supports us in our ambition to make Merton a Living Wage Place. A number organisations in Merton are already accredited, with a breakdown provided in the table below.

Number of accredited Living Wage employers in Merton

This table was last updated in March 2024.