Guest Contributor Susan Clews, Acas Chief Executive: Figures from the ONS show that the number of people working from home doubled between 2008-2018, to 1.5 million. In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, we could see numbers soar to unprecedented levels as more people switch to temporary homeworking. Some businesses will be well adapted to homeworking, with the technology and tools in place to easily facilitate it. But there will be many who are, for the first time, navigating around this new way of working. 

Guest contributor Donald Moore from Rowlinson Knitwear, Member of the Charter: We thought we would share our issues and also some positive messages from our colleagues in these most difficult times. At Rowlinson, and as an employee owned company, we are guided by our values of trust and care and by doing the best right thing. That makes some decisions easier to make for the good of everyone we work with; our colleagues, suppliers and our customers, mainly hundreds of independent retailers.

Coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, appears to be closing in. Each day, and from every news outlet, we learn more and more about its spread towards becoming the latest pandemic. And whilst the numbers of confirmed cases in the UK remain low, good employers across Greater Manchester will be making plans to respond to the threat, supporting their employees’ health and safety through good hygiene disciplines and work design to limit potential spread, particularly for those returning from travel overseas.

The Membership Tier of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter has launched, having announced the first six employers to become Members. These employers have committed to pay all staff the real living wage, offer flexible working and provide security of work among other commitments outlined in the membership criteria on the seven characteristics of good employment.

In the run-up to the launch of the Members’ Tier of the Charter, we have taken a deep dive into understanding the seven characteristics of good employment. As this Charter exists for all organisations regardless of size or sector, we have taken great care to understand the characteristics in the context of different employers. This has been done in an effort to make inclusive criteria that accounts for challenges and limitations across sector and size.

The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter Supporters’ Network, the first of its kind in the UK, has launched with more than 60 businesses signing up to the aims of the Charter. 

The Greater Manchester Independent Prosperity Review, launched earlier this year, found that wages have fallen by 6.6% in real terms between 2006 and 2016 for the average worker in the city-region, in a labour market which has seen a rise in unstable and low-paid work.