A Scottish Government campaign to promote the benefits of Fair Work to business launched on 24 September. They worked with business to produce a series of social media posts shared via the Scottish Government’s LinkedIn and (@scotgov) / X accounts and through business and partner networks.
The aim of this campaign, which continues and reinforces a similar campaign run last Autumn, is to encourage further action to implement Fair Work practices across Scotland’s business communities.
There are five principles to Fair Work:
Security, Effective Voice, Opportunity, Fulfilment and Respect.
How can Fair Work help businesses and organisations?
Security: Offering secure contracts, predictable hours, and the real Living Wage gives good people a reason to stay with their employer. Research shows that employers who pay the real Living Wage have seen increased employee motivation, and improved recruitment and retention.
Effective voice: Involving staff in business decisions and thinking about how an organisation is run can boost performance. Research indicates higher labour productivity among businesses with stronger employee voice and representation.
Fulfilment: Offering flexible working arrangements wherever possible, helps to attract and retain a wider range of great people. Recent studies indicate that while over 85% of Scottish workers want to work flexibly, or already do so, only around 3 in 10 Scottish job adverts offer flexibility.
Respect: Diverse and inclusive workplaces attract people who have lots to offer but might not otherwise apply. Research shows that inclusion leads to enhanced innovation, creativity, productivity, reputation, engagement and business results.
Opportunity: Investing in training and development improves performance and growth for individuals and organisations. Evidence shows that development opportunities form an important part of future job prospects, while being important in recruitment and retention for employers.
All of this is ‘Fair Work’, and the benefits to business and organisations are grounded in evidence.
Thousands of businesses across Scotland are already doing this, and more. Scottish Government would like to encourage every employer and organisation to think about whether they could make changes – large or small – that would help them to realise the benefits that Fair Work can offer them – easier recruitment, better retention, improved bottom-line performance – and their staff.
Useful Fair Work resources ––
Fair Work Employer Support Tool
| Home | Fair Work Tool |
Flexible Working | Flexible Working Guides & Resources – Flexibility Works |
What flexible working is – Statutory flexible working requests – Acas | |
Employee Voice | Employee Voice | CIPD |
Inclusion | CIPD is launching new and timely guidance to help employers recruit inclusively | CIPD |
Skills Development | Skills Development Scotland Employer Hub – SDS |
Pay and Security | The benefits – Living Wage Scotland (scottishlivingwage.org) |