Just 3.0 Program Manual

Clarifications

APPLICABILITY

Indicator metrics apply to all of the following groups (see definitions in General Clarifications):

  • Employees
  • Contractors
  • Interns (interns who are high school students conducting job shadowing only may be excluded from the Living Wage calculation)

LIVING WAGE

For the purposes of Just, a living wage is defined as financial compensation that reflects what individuals need to support themselves and their families above the poverty line, based on the actual costs of living in any specific community. Living Future encourages organizations to gain an understanding of what a living wage looks like in the localized contexts of their workforce members and/or where the organization conducts business.

Organizations where employees are associated with physical office locations should use the respective office as the location for calculating the applicable living wage.

Organizations with an all-remote workforce or those that have remote workers not associated with physical office locations should calculate the applicable living wage based on each employee’s respective location. Organizations cannot reduce wages in response to a relocation.

LIVING WAGE FRAMEWORKS

Operations Within the United States

For organizations operating within the U.S., the living wage is the result from the MIT Living Wage Calculator using settings defined for the targeted level or $17/hour,53 whichever is higher.

Operations Outside the United States

For performance Levels 2 through 4, organizations operating outside of the United States must use a living wage framework relevant to their area that is widely recognized and regularly updated by an NGO or educational institution. If such a framework does not exist for the location, then the living wage paid by the organization is based on a multiple of the national or local minimum wage, whichever is greater, as indicated in the metrics for the targeted performance level.

The following frameworks are approved for the covered locations:

Additional frameworks may be considered if they are approved by Living Future in advance.

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

National minimum wage benchmarks are usually set at or below a poverty-level standard of living.54 Thus, where living wage frameworks do not exist, the Just program asks organizations to provide a living wage for their employees that is higher than the minimum wage.

ROUNDING

For the purposes of this Indicator:

  • If no living wage framework or calculator exists, the percentages above applicable to living or minimum wage must be reported as is (i.e., out to two decimal places) and cannot be rounded.
  • Hourly wages must be reported as is (i.e., out to two decimal places) and cannot be rounded.

WAGE COMPOSITION

The lowest wage offered must be derived from base salary only. Organizations may not count bonuses, the cost of benefits such as transportation stipends or employer contributions to health care insurance premiums, or other types of compensation when calculating the lowest wage offered.

For interns only, organizations may count living stipends provided as part of the position’s respective wage.

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53 Economic Policy Institute. (2023, July 31). Why the U.S. Needs at Least a $17 Minimum Wage. Retrieved November 2, 2023, from https://www.epi.org/publication/why-17-minimum-wage/.

54 WageIndicator. (2023). Living Wages. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://wageindicator.org/salary/living-wage.