Fair Work First

Joint Statement on Fair Work First

Fair Work First is the Scottish Government’s policy to drive high quality and fair working practices for workforces within Scotland. The policy does this by setting criteria that organisations are encouraged to adopt and from ‘st July 2023 organisations applying for public funding have to demonstrate their commitment to the principles and make this publicly available on their websites.

The purpose of this joint statement is to confirm standards set within RCH Group which consists of River Clyde Homes (RCH) and its subsidiary, Home Fix Scotland Ltd (HFS) who comply with the fair work criteria.

Appropriate channels for effective voice

• Collective level

RCH Group employees are part of the collective bargaining arrangements that RCH Group have with Unison, UNITE the Union and GMB. This covers pay, grading arrangements and terms and conditions of employment.

Through this arrangement Unison is the recognised union for managerial, professional, administrative and caretaking posts in RCH, GMB is the recognised union for warden posts in RCH and UNITE the Union is the recognised union for all managerial, professional, administrative, trades and manual posts in HFS.

RCH Group terms and conditions of employment have provisions within them to encourage and support trade union membership for staff. Along with support for those carrying out official duties for the union.

• Individual level

Line Management Relationship (i.e. effective 2-way dialogue through 1:1 relationship). All RCH Group employees receive an annual appraisal to discuss and agree objectives, overall performance and training and development needs. Line managers also have monthly one-to-one meetings to promote two-way dialogue between line managers and their direct reports.

Employee Engagement Surveys There is an annual employee engagement survey along with a quarterly pulse survey with results being communicated to all RCH Group employees. Action plans are developed to continuously improve employee satisfaction.

Employee Voice RCH Group have employee forums which include a Staff Forum and a Young Person Forum ensuring that all employees have a voice. There is also an internal intranet to provide regular communication promoting organisational and employee successes.

• Investments in Workforce Development

RCH Group terms and conditions of employment have provision within them outlining our commitment to support and develop employees.

This commitment is expanded in our Training and Development policy and includes appropriate financial support for employees to complete training and development relevant to their job roles along with paid time off when appropriate.

• No inappropriate use of zero hours contracts

All staff in RCH Group are employed under the RCH Group terms and conditions of employment.

The use of zero hours contracts is not a common practice in RCH Group however there may be limited circumstances where this is appropriate.

• Actions to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace

RCH Group salary scales are supported by a job evaluation system which is based on typical characteristics of any given job. The system focuses on the job, not the staff member and provides a tried and tested system to ensure fair and transparent arrangements for pay.

The job evaluation system is based on the grading guidelines which have been negotiated and agreed with the trade union partners.

RCH Group terms and conditions of employment set summary points for both equal opportunities and dignity at work and are elaborated on in our Dignity at Work and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policies.

RCH Group publishes its gender pay gap report on its website on an annual basis.

• Payment of the real living wage

RCH Group pay employees the real living wage as a minimum which is set as the bottom point of the salary scales.

The bottom points of the salary scales are increased each year to reflect the increase to the real living wage.

The real living wage is paid to employees on the announcement date rather than wait to the implementation date.

• Offer flexible and family friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment

RCH Group prides itself on the flexible and family friendly practices that staff benefit from, these are promoted in a range of family friendly policies and procedures, including the following:

• Maternity Leave
• Paternity Leave
• Shared Parental Leave
• Adoption and Foster Leave e Special Leave
• Flexible Working; and
• Remote Working

RCH Group are committed to consider flexible working requests to support and promote a positive work life balance.

• Oppose the use of fire and rehire practice

RCH Group engage with our trade union partners at the start of the process for any changes which may affect contractual terms, this is detailed in our Workforce Establishment Planning Policy. This ensures full consultation with any affected staff members takes place with the purpose of the consultation being to explore options to reach agreed outcomes.

• Procurement of potential service providers and contractors including recruitment agencies

RCH Group will seek information from potential service providers and contractors with regards to their approach to fair work. This will be taken into consideration when awarding contracts and procurement with fair work providers being preferred.

RCH Group will expect contractors to recognise Trade Unions and engage in collective bargaining. We will share our approach to fair work to providers and ask that they seek to emulate it proportionately and monitor and support this.

RCH Group will expect providers to comply with a policy of non-use of zero hours contracts.