Laura Robertson, Research Manager, The Poverty Alliance Chirsty McFadyen, Knowledge Exchange Associate, Fraser of Allander Institute
Serving the Future, a collaboration between the Poverty Alliance and the Fraser of Allander Institute, has been working with hospitality employers and workers to identify actions to address in-work poverty in the sector since 2022.
This blog is being published during Living Wage Week in the UK, which recognises and celebrates employers who are paying the real Living Wage. Since its introduction, the number of businesses becoming accredited has increased every year, with over 15,000 employers in the UK now committed to paying the real Living Wage. However, 45% of the hospitality workforce in Scotland did not receive the real Living Wage in 2023.
The Serving the Future project has found that whilst employers in the sector are motivated to make improvements, relatively poor pay and conditions in the sector prevail with employees having to deal with insecurity on multiple fronts. In the last five years, the sector has also faced significant challenges as a consequence of the cost-of-living crisis and the impacts of Brexit and the pandemic. However, in our work with the sector in Scotland, employers and workers have identified actions that employers can take to implement fair work practices in the sector, explored in this blog.
Workers’ recommendations
In June, workers from the Serving the Future project participated in a workshop to explore fair work practices in Scotland's hospitality sector. Guided by the Scottish Government’s Fair Work Framework, workers identified recommendations around the five fair work dimensions: security, respect, fulfilment, opportunity, and effective voice.
Recommendations included:
Security: Implementing the real Living Wage, ensuring adequate rest between shifts, and offering flexible working patterns.
Respect and Fulfilment: Promoting good management, providing comprehensive employee handbooks, and enhancing transparency in processes like tip distribution.
Opportunity: Investing in ongoing staff training and pooling resources among businesses for centralized HR support.
Effective Voice: Encouraging employee feedback and involving workers in decision-making.
Implementation of fair work by employers
In September, the Serving the Future project published employer fair work case studies, providing tangible examples of commitment to fair work principles from five hospitality employers in Scotland. All the employers emphasized the importance of paying the real Living Wage and the positive impacts on recruitment and retention.
Beyond wages, various other examples were shared, such as mental health support and flexible working arrangements tailored to individual needs. The case studies also include positive examples of businesses actively encouraging employee input through regular meetings and suggestion schemes.
The Serving the Future project is currently working with the sector and workers in the development of a Hospitality Toolkit for both employers and workers which we hope will support the sector to embed these fair work practices across Scotland. By adopting these practices, hospitality employers can create a supportive work environment that helps lift families out of in-work poverty.
How can the Scottish Government support hospitality employers to deliver fair work?
As part of Serving the Future, the project has heard from both employers and employees about the challenges of sustaining work in the hospitality sector. The project has recognised that employers cannot deliver fair work, and employees cannot escape in-work poverty, without the support of policymakers and local authorities.
Work is inextricably linked to participants’ lives outside of work. Key areas for improvement highlighted by both employers and workers in Serving the Future include:
Affordable childcare outside of traditional 9-5 working hours
Affordable and reliable rural transport and nighttime transport
Affordable accommodation in both urban and rural areas.
Participating workers also highlighted confusion around fluctuating benefit entitlement, particularly when their hours are variable. Employers, in turn, were keen to understand the benefit system to ensure they were providing preferred hours and wages for employees.
A final common theme between employers and employees was a desire to see the sector viewed in a more positive light and as a viable career option rather than a temporary role. Serving the Future employees were not working in hospitality for a summer while studying – they were providing for their families and looking to make their roles work long-term.
Options suggested to improve the reputation of the industry included guidance for school pupils on careers in hospitality, greater provision of training and education related to the sector, and promoting the sector more widely to improve public opinion.
Further recommendations from industry stakeholders which would support the sector to implement fair work were highlighted in the Fair Work Convention Hospitality Inquiry Report. Many of Serving the Future’s emerging findings were echoed by the Fair Work Convention Inquiry.
Serving the Future is funded by The Robertson Trust’s Partners in Change Programme.
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