Good Employment Week presents a unique opportunity for all of Greater Manchester to participate in discussion and debates on what constitutes good employment and why it is vital for the continued growth of the city region. The week brings together employers of all sizes from all sectors to celebrate and share their best practice and provides a platform for others to engage with Charter movement and help build its momentum.
Over the past two years Good Employment Week has also provided an opportunity to engage directly with employees and citizens, informing and hopefully empowering them to understand what good employment should feel like, no matter who they work for. At the Charter we believe that it is vital to create the demand for good employment opportunities as well as working on the supply of good jobs. 2025 will see the Government’s Employment Rights Bill come into law, and although the provisions of the Bill will be phased in over the next couple of years, it will represent the largest overhaul in employment legislation for well over a decade. In many respects it responds to post-pandemic work shifts, the rise in insecure work and the gaps in protections for gig and casual workers. As part of the Make Work Pay agenda, the Bill along with other legislative changes intends to modernise employment law thereby improving job security and raise living standards. Our campaign focus for 2025 is therefore to highlight and promote the new employment conditions that every worker will enjoy as a right and not just a privilege of those working for Charter Members. Our ‘Know Your Rights’ quiz will hopefully engage and inform employees everywhere of their rights at work.
Established in 2019 the Charter has been in the vanguard of raising the bar for good employment standards. Now national legislation is catching up; our challenge is to help support all employers across Greater Manchester to learn from the Charter network and understand how good employment standards can be implemented and realise the business benefits. We fully understand the fear and apprehension in many quarters in the business community about the implications and costs of new regulations, especially at a time such economic uncertainty, but despite the difficult headwinds, we have many exemplars in the Charter movement that demonstrate that investments to build content and healthy teams pays dividends in productivity and a competitive advantage for skills and talent in an increasingly difficult labour market.
During Good Employment Week 2025 we will make continue to make this case and promote examples of best practice, through our events and publications. Undoubtedly the Employment Rights Bill is a transformational moment for UK employment law. We understand that It presents challenges, but it is also a unique opportunity to build a fairer, more resilient labour market. Let’s ensure Greater Manchester remains at the forefront of this change.