Citizens Advice & Rights Fife (CARF) - A Living Wage Employer

Making Glenrothes a Living Wage Town

Citizens Advice & Rights Fife - A Living Wage Employer (CARF)

Citizens Advice & Rights Fife (CARF) - A Living Wage Employer

Based: Pentland Court in the Saltire Centre, administrative office Craig Mitchell House, Flemington Road
Employees: 78 people full time and over 120 volunteers
Locations: Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy, Leven, Cupar and St. Andrews. Pop-up clinics and outreach where there is demand.

Profile

CARF was established in October 1997 with the merger of five, Fife Citizen’s Advice Bureaux and the Rights Office Fife.

Citizens Advice & Rights Fife provide information, advice and support to the people of Fife. In common with all members of Citizens Advice Scotland, we have twin aims:

And

Living Wage Accreditation

We sought accreditation in August 2015. We hear daily of the financial pressures faced by our clients (a lot of whom are in employment), so we wanted to ensure that we, as an organisation, are doing all that we can to enable our staff to have a decent standard of living by paying the real living wage.

It is not only the employees of the accredited organisations who benefit from the Living Wage but also the employees of the contractors who provide services to those organisations.  So the more employers accredited, the larger the reach making Glenrothes a very attractive place to live and work.  It also gives people more spending power which can then be invested back into the local community which benefits everyone.

Angela Angel Finance Officer said: “We want our employees to know they are valued and that they are our greatest asset. I am proud to say that CARF was the first Citizens Advice Bureau in Scotland to gain accreditation as a Living Wage Employer.  Since then other bureaux have followed suit and we are delighted that Citizens Advice Scotland, our umbrella organisation, has now made it a mandatory requirement of membership. This is a major step in the right direction, work should pay!”

David, Modern Apprentice in Business Administration says: “I’m very fortunate to be gaining the experience and qualifications that I want whilst at the same time earning a respectable wage.  I know other people are having to choose between one or the other. I am able to concentrate fully on my learning rather than worrying about finances.”


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