Resources – Employment and Skills

 As always, these are ideas for steps your business could take to create a greater social impact. Many of them are low-cost or even free. If you have other ideas we could add, please contact us.

What could you do? Why and how?
Commit to paying Living Wage to all employees and use subcontractors (e.g. cleaners) who do the same

Register with the Living Wage Foundation: www.livingwage.org.uk

There’s a charge but your business is listed on their directory of Living Wage employers and you get a logo you can use in your publicity. Macc is a Living Wage Employer. They recently reached 1500 employers registered: we’d love to see Greater Manchester take them past the 2000 mark. (Just 64 are currently registered in GM – we can do better!)

You could also support the GM Living Wage Campaign @GMLivingWage
Publish your pay multiple With a lot of press coverage about ‘fat cat’ salaries damaging the reputation of businesses, you could take a look at how well pay is shared across your organisation. Publishing it online is a great way to show commitment to fair pay policies.

You can publish your business’ pay multiple for free on Pay Compare www.paycompare.org.uk. When you register, you get a logo you can use in publicity. (Macc’s Pay Multiple is published on here)
Choose not to use unfair zero-hours contracts  A lot has been written about this. Here’s one example of why this is important: www.neweconomics.org/blog/entry/zero-hours-contracts-when-work-doesnt-pay

And some guidance on how to implement it: www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/guides/zero-hours-contracts-understanding-law.aspx
Offer work experience opportunities

There are many schemes which support work experience placements - mostly, but not exclusively, aimed at young people.
You could set up one of your own - using guidance here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/employer-guides-to-work-experience
Manchester City Council has a funded work experience scheme called My Future. Further details here: www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/news/my-future-work-experience-young-people-manchester
Macc believes all work (including internships, work experience and apprenticeships) should be paid at Living Wage rates – though we recognise that for those on benefits, this could create problems coming off benefits for a short period. Some schemes are working with Job Centre Plus to enable people to go onto work experience placements while still on benefits without being sanctioned.
Offer apprenticeships Become an apprentice guide from Gov.uk www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide

Macc believes apprenticeships should be paid at Living Wage rates
Choose to pay interns Here’s why this is important: www.internaware.org/unpaid_internships_are_illegal
Macc believes interns should be paid at Living Wage rates
Support a positive approach to mental health in the workplace Lots of information about why this is important and plenty of resources on how to go about this at: www.mindfulemployer.net/
Macc is a Mindful Employer
Promote good health in the workplace The Good Work Good Health Charter is a framework you can use to help do this http://neweconomymanchester.com/stories/1822-good_work_good_health_charter - it’s possibly a little heavy for small businesses.

There are plenty of simple things you can do like flagging up things like the Manchester Health and Wellbeing Service website http://goodhealth-manchester.nhs.uk/public.html and, of course, you can devise your own programme, for example:
• encouraging people to exercise: have a Bike to Work day
• eat healthily: have a Healthy Eating Week encouraging staff to bring in and share healthy food
• stopping smoking: offer support and access to information about quitting
Encourage learning and development at work This is a very simple approach which can suit any size of organisation. In a nutshell, a member of staff takes a lead on sharing ideas for learning and skills development in an *informal* way www.workplacelearningadvocates.org.uk
It’s a great low-cost way of encouraging people to learn and develop and for an employer to show commitment to nurturing the skills and talents of your staff.
Create an inclusive workplace Equalities legislation is often thought of in terms of recruitment and delivery of services, but how do you create an inclusive culture at work?

Here’s some useful guidance: www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-practical-guidance/area-employment-services/creating-an-inclusive-workplace

If there are particular communities (ethnic communities or groups of people such as people with disabilities, LGBT people, etc.) you want to reach out to or understand better, there are local charities who work with those communities – we can help put you in touch with them. Contact us if you need support with this.

Other resources