The Chapel Hill – Carrboro City School system has been recognized by a local non-profit for paying its employees a living wage.

Orange County Living Wage has been compiling businesses and organizations that pay employees a living wage, which is defined for Orange County as $12.75 per hour or $11.25 per hour for employees covered by health insurance. Other communities have similar non-profits pushing for employers to pay a living wage.

OCLW says that the school system makes up the largest living wage employer to date in the organization’s registry.

In order to qualify, 72 employees in the CHCCS system – mostly custodians and bus monitors, according to OCLW – were given raises of $1.30 per hour. A release from OCLW says the combined raises totaled $36,000 over the course of the year. Orange County Schools was recognized as a living wage employer last month.

Newly-elected CHCCS board chair James Barrett said in the release:

“We’ve heard from many parents about how frustrated they feel when district staff can’t afford to live within our community, and it goes against our traditionally-expressed values. Paying a living wage is, simply, the right thing to do—and the smart thing to do, from a business perspective. That’s a lesson I’m happy for our students to learn through our example.”

The living wage in Orange County is calculated off the compensation that employees need in order to meet “their most basic needs” while free of government assistance, including costs of housing.

A total of 48 businesses, municipalities and public school systems, with a combined employment of over 4,000, have been recognized by OCLW as paying their employees a living wage.

The combined wage increases total $276,240 over the course of the year, according to OCLW.

You can see a full list of the recognized employers here.

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