Reflections

There is no single ‘silver bullet’ to deliver fair work in Scotland. That employment law powers are reserved to Westminster undoubtedly constrains the potential levers available to policymakers in Scotland. However, there are actions within the powers and influence of the Scottish Government that could make a difference to the adoption and deepening of fair work in Scotland.

Those powers are most explicit in areas like employability support where the Scottish Government has direct authority. But as we have argued, all government spending should be ‘fair work-proofed’ to ensure that government is not supporting practices that are inconsistent with fair work.

Fair work spans a wide range of workplace practices, and these are configured in a variety of ways across Scotland’s workplaces. Policy levers that might work well in some contexts may not reach into or land well in other contexts. For example, fair work accreditation might be more attractive to large employers rather than small employers in lower value sectors, and sensitivity to industry or sectoral context is crucial. As the FWC made clear in the Fair Work Framework, the ownership of fair work lies fundamentally with workplace stakeholders and at workplace level.

What is consistent, however, is the key role of employers in delivering fair work. Employers are the primary drivers of workplace practice, and many of Scotland’s employers consistently deliver good working practices that support fair processes and outcomes. There is much to learn from their experiences, making support for networks that can share insights and in particular the benefits of fair work crucially important. Many of the levers suggested here aim to engage, support and encourage employers, and to support peer-to-peer learning across the employer community. At a time when many employers are facing both labour shortages and increasingly socially conscious consumers, it is particularly important to engage them in debate and evidence as to how fair work might help them.

The levers identified here are both broadly and narrowly targeted. Some levers – such as an awareness campaign – might seem rather basic, but our wider research^[161] highlights that knowledge about Scotland’s commitment to fair work is more limited than might have been expected more than seven years after the launch of Scotland’s Fair Work Framework. It is clear that stakeholders – across private, public sector and third sector organisations and across industries – are at very different stages in the journey towards fair work. This means that policy levers must contribute to every stage of adoption of fair work.

As this Report has shown, many levers require the investment of resources to bring about change. This is particularly challenging in the current economic and fiscal context. For some levers that are potentially effective (for example, a rigorous fair work accreditation scheme), the scale of resources required renders them unfeasible at the current time. For others, strategic investment across a number of levers might be more affordable. Such investment may reap a significant reward in the longer term. Some levers can be delivered with a re-orientation of current government spending.

Many of the levers suggested here are aligned with other levers, and shifting the dial on fair work requires a range of connected actions. Fair work training would be important to support the activities of fair work champions, and both could support the development of communities of practice. A dedicated fair work evidence hub and the development of tools and diagnostics could support training provision and fair work communities of practice. Networks of champions could be better placed to identify areas where further conditionality might be effective. The operation of voluntary charters might benefit from, and contribute to, the evidence hub. And investment in fair work capacity and training could begin to generate what might become a critical mass of stakeholders whose expertise and impact could spread out across the Scottish economy. There are good examples from other countries – for example, the development of specialist workplace innovation consultants in Finland – that show how investing in a cadre of specialists can support significant workplace change.

We need both short-term and longer-term levers. An awareness campaign could be implemented reasonably quickly – but cannot deliver impactful change on its own. While investing in fair work capacity and capability is a longer-term approach, it remains crucial to creating a tipping point that – in line with the initial approach of the FWC – can better support a social movement for fair work.