Written by Ian MacArthur, Director of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter (August 2024)

When a rain-soaked Prime Minister stood at the podium outside No 10 Downing Street on 22^nd May to announce the General Election, he inadvertently threw the Good Employment Charter Team into a bit of spin! It became obvious that our plans for our second Good Employment Week could not go ahead during the pre-election period and that we’d have to postpone the planned activity. We will now hold the annual celebration and focus on all things good employment between the 7^th and 11^th of October.

Of course, calling the election earlier than most of us expected has also changed the context of week as we now have a very different Government with clear plans to take action on the employment agenda. The New Deal for Working People which was well trailed in advance of the election sets out a bold approach to employment rights and equality.

The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter has in many ways helped filled the gap in good employment practice during the fourteen years or so without an Employment Bill and our Supporters and Members will be well placed to match and exceed the new legislative standards the Government will set out over the coming weeks and months. And the Charter wants to continue to lead the way - to contribute to future thinking, and particularly highlight the best practices that are the hallmark of the Charter community.

Good Employment Week provides us with an ideal stage to spotlight that best practice but also to help bring some thought leadership to the agenda. Our planned focus for the week on equality and inclusion could hardly be better timed. Recent events demonstrate how fractious and fragile our society can be and the planned activities throughout good employment week will hopefully demonstrate that employers have a key role in bringing about better understanding across differences and bridging divides to help deliver diverse yet inclusive cultures. Good employers already know that this isn’t only the right thing to do – it also makes good business sense.

We are indebted to the enthusiasm and commitment shown by our partners across the Greater Manchester Equality panels as they will all be holding events around the week to develop their thoughts and priorities on employment through their particular perspective. We will then convene an intersectoral conversation at the end of the week to compare and compile thoughts on how the Charter can increase its effectiveness to support employers around the EDI agenda.

On 10^th of October, we will also be hosting our annual best practice conference where our award winners will be sharing their best practices across a range of subjects. This event, once more held at the Mechanics Institute in Central Manchester, will also host the Annual Good Employment Lecture. Watch this space and our social media channels for further information on this.

Finally, we will once again be reaching out to the public during the week to highlight that ‘fair work is good work’. You’ll see this message on trams, interchanges and around the city centre. The QR code this year will take you to a retro game of snakes and ladders. The ‘Game of Work’ will highlight that discrimination in the workplace remains a persistent feature, but that unlike the game, fair opportunity should not be down to luck.

For more information on Good Employment week visit our micro site: Good Employment Week - 2024 and I look forward to meeting many of you at events during the week.