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An elite Scottish golf club has become embroiled in a pay row after being accused of failing to offer workers the living wage.

The independent website The Ferret has reported that Loch Lomond Golf Club is under fire from a major trade union over an apparent failure to honour its living wage commitment.

The famous former Scottish Open venue, a certified living wage employer, has been called out by the Unite union over a recent job advert for prospective workers.

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Unite say that Loch Lomond advertised a spa receptionist position for £12 an hour in November, when the hourly living wage for over 18s had increased to £12.60 a few weeks before.

bunkered.co.uk has reached out to the club for comment on this issue.

The Living Wage Foundation accrediting Loch Lomond stressed that employers would have six months to up their pay after the change that came in from October 2024.

But Unite claim that Loch Lomond – a venue that has an entry fee for new members of up to £100,000 – should have made the pay change immediately.

“Hospitality is already the lowest paid sector in the Scottish economy,” Bryan Simpson, Unite’s lead organiser for hospitality, told the Ferret.

“We would urge Loch Lomond Golf Club to do the right thing and pay their workers the *real* living wage of £12.60 which they claim they pay before any more reputational damage is done.”

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However, a spokesperson for the Living Wage Foundation confirmed that while they “encourage accredited employers to implement the new rates at the earliest opportunity”, Loch Lomond are not in breach of their policy.

“To make it practical and possible for employers, we do offer a six-month implementation period, so the deadline for employers to implement the new rates is May 2025,” a spokesperson for the foundation said.

“Loch Lomond Golf Club are therefore in compliance with the terms of their accreditation as long as all real Living Wage roles are uprated to the new rates by this deadline.”


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Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.

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