Background
In 2020, the Edinburgh Poverty Commission published a report setting an ambitious target to end poverty in the city by 2030. In this, the commission recognised the important role that fair work plays in supporting efforts to tackle and prevent poverty.
In recent years Edinburgh’s employers have taken significant steps to improve availability of fair work in the city, with a near doubling of the number of real Living Wage accredited employers, and a halving of the proportion of city jobs which pay less than the real Living Wage.
Despite this progress, work still does not provide enough people in Edinburgh with a reliable and secure route out of poverty. High in-work poverty rates mean that over 70% of all children who grow up in poverty live in a family where adults are working, while fluctuations in family income remain a major driver of people who fall into poverty each year.
One approach to tackle these challenges in the development of local Fair Work Charters. These tools can improve employment standards by supporting employers to adopt fair work practices.
In Edinburgh, a Fair Work Charter was initially developed for the Forth Green Freeport to encourage employers investing in the area to commit to Fair Work practices. This charter has now been expanded to develop a city-wide charter, that aims to:
- Provide a clear set of guidance, supporting resources, and toolkits on fair work and its practical implementation for employers in Edinburgh; and
- Provide a single consistent set of definitions, guidance and toolkits for business facing Council services to use when working with employers in Edinburgh.
A draft Fair Work Charter has been developed with employers, trade union representatives, businesses and workers. The Edinburgh Fair Work Action Group was a key partner throughout this process, providing practical advice on the charter contents and its associated toolkit. This will be discussed by the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee in August 2026. Following this, next steps are to work with Edinburgh employers to use this tool to drive up employment standards in the city.