Assessing Fair Work in Scotland

The Scottish Government has determined that Scotland will become a Fair Work Nation by 2025. A major new report for the Jimmy Reid Foundation assesses Fair Work and union representatives’ experiences and recommends further action.

The report concludes that the largely voluntary approach taken to Scotland’s Fair Work initiative has made a limited but positive contribution to improving working lives, particularly in the broader public services. However, it has not yet delivered major results, as evidenced by the continued prevalence of poor-quality work across Scotland’s labour market. If Scotland is to claim to be a Fair Work Nation in 2025, much more needs to be done to turn the worthy ambition into reality.

The report was launched at an online meeting on 31 August 2023. The meeting heard from the report’s author, Dave Watson, and discussed the actions needed to turn the worthy ambition of a Fair Work Nation into reality.

Read the guide to Fair Work for union representatives

Click the image below to read the full report.