New scheme promotes fair working hours in Scotland

The Scottish Living Hours Accreditation Scheme encourages businesses to provide secure contracts, flexible hours, and payment of the real Living Wage.

The new scheme builds on the existing Living Wage accreditation scheme, with businesses looking for certification needing to pay the real Living Wage.

The businesses will also need to provide contracts that accurately reflect hours worked and guarantee a minimum of 16 hours a week, unless the worker requests otherwise, and ensure at least 4 weeks’ notice of shifts is given and that payment is guaranteed if shifts are cancelled within this period.

The scheme will be supported by £380,000 of funding and is to be administers by the Poverty Alliance, Scotland’s network of organisations and individuals working to end poverty.

Fair work minister, Richard Lochhead, said: ‘No one should be working in an insecure, unstable job that doesn’t pay the real Living Wage. Good progress has been made on the real Living Wage in Scotland, with over 2000 employers now being accredited and helping to reduce in-work poverty.  We are going further and will now introduce a national Living Hours Accreditation Scheme for Scotland in the first 100 days of this government.

‘Together with the Poverty Alliance and Living Wage Scotland, the new Living Hours Accreditation Scheme will help to alleviate in work poverty and create more secure, sustainable and satisfying jobs. I encourage businesses across Scotland to look at the scheme and sign up to ensure you are providing the best possible work conditions for your valued staff.

‘Fair work is at the heart of our economic recovery and it is only right that workers across the country are in jobs that can provide secure, consistent contracts and pay a real Living Wage.’

Poverty Alliance will begin reaching out to prospective employers on 1 August to the start the accreditation process.

Poverty Alliance director, Peter Kelly, said: ‘Building on the strength of the Living Wage movement, we need to be more ambitious in finding ways to support employers to make a stronger commitment to fair work practice. By working with our 2000-strong network of accredited Living Wage employers, we will support employers to become Living Hours accredited, helping to tackle the problem of insecure work and in-work poverty in Scotland.’

In related news, people across Wales will have the chance to become owners of at-risk local assets with the launch of the UK government’s Community Ownership Fund.

Photo by Campaign Creators