Furness Building Society is the first employer in Cumbria to be awarded Living Hours Accreditation.

The achievement recognises the building society’s commitment to provide all colleagues with a guaranteed minimum of 16 hours’ work per week, unless an individual requests less.

As well as being first for Cumbria, Furness is the 56th employer in the North West to be accredited for Living Hours by the Living Wage Foundation, which builds upon its existing status as a Real Living Wage Employer.

In the past 18 months, Furness Building Society has also been named a Disability Confident Employer by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and joined the HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter, reflecting a pledge for gender balance across the financial services sector.

Chris Harrison, Chief Executive at Furness Building Society, commented: “Over the past 18 months we’ve made excellent progress in our commitment to delivering diversity, inclusivity and equality across the workforce.

“Our most recent pledge to provide our colleagues with the security and stability of working hours that meet their everyday needs was a natural next step following our measures that ensure all team members earn a wage which is enough to live on. To become the first employer in Cumbria to have our efforts formally accredited is testament to the team’s determination to raise the bar as an employer of choice.”