Edinburgh Fair Work Action Group

Fair work is about making sure that employees and workers have meaningful employment within a safe, respectful, fair and healthy workplace, where all members of the community can participate.

In Scotland, work is taking place nationally, regionally and locally to build a Fair Work movement make sure that everyone has access to fair work that drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society. This movement is built upon:

• The Fair Work Convention’s work to create a Fair Work Framework
• The Scottish Government’s Fair Work First policy
• Local and regional Fair Work Charters
• The work of Fair Work and Living Wage Places Groups
• The work of individual organisations adopting innovative Fair Work measures

The real Living Wage Movement

The real Living Wage is an independently calculated rate of hourly pay based on the cost of living. Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage to make sure their employees earn a wage that meets their everyday needs. Currently, the rate for the UK is £12.60 per hour and for London it is £13.85 per hour.

Resolution Foundation calculate the rates each year, based on what a person needs to afford the basket of ‘goods’ required for a decent standard of living. This includes housing, childcare, transport and heating costs.  This process is overseen by the Living Wage Commission.

The Living Wage Foundation and Living Wage Scotland work to promote the real Living Wage movement. Both organisations work with a range of organisations to increase the number of accredited employers across the UK and Scotland. As part of this work, the Living Wage Foundation has established new schemes such as the Making Living Wage Places accreditation. This scheme celebrates places where communities and businesses are working together to tackle in-work poverty.

The Real Living Wage in Edinburgh

Edinburgh champions the Real Living Wage movement in Scotland. Currently there are 756 accredited Living Wage employers based in Edinburgh. Together, these employers have uplifted 13,261 staff onto the real Living Wage.

In November 2021, Edinburgh became a Living Wage City.  This work is led by the Edinburgh Fair Work Action Group and is supported by Living Wage Scotland. Ambitious targets are set for the city, with the goal achieving over 900 accredited businesses based in the in Edinburgh by 2026.

Getting involved

The Fair Work and real Living Wage are growing movements. More and more employers are adopting Fair Work practices and signing up to commit to accreditation schemes such as Fair Work Charters and the real Living Wage. If you would like to find out more about this please get in touch. 

If you’re an Edinburgh based employer and would like to find out more about the Edinburgh Fair Work Action Group or get involved with our work, please contact the secretariat of the group at policyandinsight@edinburgh.gov.uk.