A Fair Work Charter for Edinburgh

Other Fair Work Charters

Some local authorities across Scotland either already have, or are developing, their own Fair Work Charter. In addition, there is also national guidance from the Scottish Government’s ‘Fair Work First’ and Fair Work Convention’s ‘Fair Work Framework’, and it is important that our Fair Work Charter is aligned with and not in competition with these initiatives.

Examples of existing Fair Work Charters include other regions, like Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, Liverpool City Region’s Fair Employment Charter, North of Tyne Good Work Pledge, and the London Good Work Standard.

Nation-wide initiatives that have supported the development of our Charter include: Living Wage Scotland, Community Wealth Building, Investors in People, Disability Confident, B Corp, Good Business Charter, and the Mindful Employer Charter.

Why Edinburgh needs a Fair Work Charter

Edinburgh has the largest economy in the UK, outwith London. With a current population of 564,000, this number is projected to grow by 6% to almost 600,000 by 2040. Our region is a diverse population with many ethnicities, backgrounds, and lifestyles represented, which is a great strength to our experiences of living and working in the city.

Despite our city’s scale and strengths, too many people are still living in poverty while in work and experiencing unfair working conditions. This is why we believe Edinburgh needs its own Charter to support our needs. 

How will an employer evidence ‘Fair Work’?

Work done to date on the Fair Work Charter has identified a number of possible ways of evidencing and recognising achievements that increase further the commitments and support employers can make to the fairest possible employment practices. 

What type of employer is the Fair Work Charter for?

A part of this consultation is to gather views that will ensure suitability of the Fair Work Charter for all types of employers in the region, including small and medium sized enterprises across all sectors, including third sector organisations. 

Our city has an employed workforce of over 330,000 people and around 95,000 businesses, the majority of which are small to medium sized enterprises that employ less than 250 employees (only 350 are large employers, which is less than 1% of the total employers in the region).

We want the Fair Work Charter to recognise and increase further the commitments and support of our employers to the fairest possible employment practices.