[UK] Royal Mail dubbed ‘Scrooge’ for not paying elves the living wage

An army of new Royal Mail recruits replying to children’s letters to Father Christmas will do so without being paid a real living wage. The Royal Mail intends to pay its festive elves £9 per hour; 50p under the voluntary rate set by the Living Wage Foundation. Children are invited to write to Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ and the elf army ensure they each receive a reply.

The recruitment advert reads, “We have an exciting opportunity over the festive ­period to make sure that children who write to Santa through the Royal Mail all ­receive a reply and we need your help to ensure that this can happen.”

Campaign group the Living Wage Foundation increased its voluntary real living wage from £9.30 to £9.50 this week. The new standard is 78p higher than Britain’s legal minimum wage. The Foundation said 5.5 million UK jobs - 20 per cent of all employees - still pay below its real living wage. In Northern Ireland, the figure is 25.3 per cent and 15.2 per cent in Scotland. Mirror has more on the seasonal story.

An army of new Royal Mail recruits replying to children’s letters to Father Christmas will do so without being paid a real living wage. The Royal Mail intends to pay its festive elves £9 per hour; 50p under the voluntary rate set by the Living Wage Foundation. Children are invited to write to Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ and the elf army ensure they each receive a reply.

The recruitment advert reads, “We have an exciting opportunity over the festive ­period to make sure that children who write to Santa through the Royal Mail all ­receive a reply and we need your help to ensure that this can happen.”

Campaign group the Living Wage Foundation increased its voluntary real living wage from £9.30 to £9.50 this week. The new standard is 78p higher than Britain’s legal minimum wage. The Foundation said 5.5 million UK jobs - 20 per cent of all employees - still pay below its real living wage. In Northern Ireland, the figure is 25.3 per cent and 15.2 per cent in Scotland. Mirror has more on the seasonal story.