Novartis shares living wage experience at UN Global Compact Leaders Summit

July 5-6, 2007 – A Novartis executive shared the company’s experience with implementing a living wage for all associates at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit.

Thomas Wellauer, Member of the Executive Committee and Head Corporate Services, Novartis, was invited to speak at the Summit, which gathers more than 600 leaders from business, labor, civil society, UN agencies and government in Geneva to discuss progress on the UN Global Compact’s 10 principles as well as future initiatives.

The Summit, “Facing Realities: Getting Down to Business,” aimed to facilitate dialogue based on experiences and best practices. Wellauer shared key lessons from the living wage experience and how this initiative fits into our overall commitment to corporate citizenship. His remarks were part of the panel focused on labor issues stemming from globalization.

Traditionally, companies respect minimum wages set by law and use competitive salaries to attract talent. The living wage concept is a diversion from this model, creating a new “minimum” based on the cost of living. A living wage reflects the local cost of a basket of goods considered to provide an adequate standard of living and is generally higher than the legal minimum wage.

Novartis is one of the first international companies to have defined and implemented a living wage globally, and worked with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) to create a methodology to determine a living wage standard.

The living wage is one example of how Novartis competes with integrity.

Learn more about the Novartis commitment to the living wage in our case study.

Read Thomas Wellauer’s remarks to the labor roundtable ›