Employment
Provide secure, flexible work opportunities that enable everyone to thrive.
Expectations of employment have changed during the pandemic. People with health limitations, caring responsibilities and some ethnic backgrounds have been disproportionately affected, and many have sought different working arrangements.
Availability of flexible work is particularly important for those audiences and prevents people taking low paid, part-time work, and from becoming economically inactive.
Employability is a key domain measure of the indices of deprivation and measures the number of people on out-of-work benefits. Keeping people in work would therefore reduce the deprivation scores in many of our communities.
In addition, the acceleration of the work-from-anywhere culture make the pressure on employers ever greater to provide jobs that are attractive. There is evidence that investors, customers and employees are boycotting companies with poor employment terms.
Research shows that, after a salary reaches a (relatively low) level, workers value factors such as on-the-job training, flexible working conditions, and opportunities for advancement more highly than the size of the pay-packet. So this should be part of a wider commitment to fairness.
92% of Millennials identify flexibility as a top priority when job hunting
Women a 3 x more likely to work part time than men
What you can do
Increase the proportion of employees that have contracts that offer employment security through provision of sick pay, holiday rights, pensions and working hours. Use casual worker contracts only for specific appropriate purposes, where agreed by both parties and atypically
Be proactive in attracting, recruiting and retaining people from diverse communities in our workplace.
Provide access to flexible working across the organisation to accommodate personal circumstances, particularly to overcome short term challenges.
Sign up to the Real Living Wage Scheme.
Commit to improving the health and wellbeing of our staff through delivery of a strategic objective for our organisation.
Managers have the skills they need to manage and develop people.
Explore innovative approaches to recruitment.
How we'll support businesses
Publish a list of resources such as factsheets and links to external organisations to support change.
Provide a list of local organisations that can promote job opportunities to people with protected characteristics such as the BAME community, LGBTQ+ community, long term health conditions.
Signpost to organisations that can support people to stay in work when they face challenges to doing so.
Measure your progress
% of males and females working part time, hybrid or other types of flexibility.
Number of manager’s that have undertaken people management training in the last three years.
Executive pay as a % of Median employee pay.