Fair Work Statement

Fair Work First is the Scottish Government's flagship policy for driving high quality, inclusive, and fair work across the labour market by applying fair work criteria to grants, other funding, and contracts, where relevant to do so. The Scottish Government is encouraging employers to adopt fair work practices, specifically:

• Payment of at least the real Living Wage  
• Providing appropriate channels for effective workers' voice, such as trade union recognition  
• Investment in workforce development  
• No inappropriate use of zero hours contracts  
• Action to tackle the gender pay gap and to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace  
• Offer flexible and family friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment  
• Opposing the use of fire and rehire practices  

The University of Edinburgh’s Commitment

The University of Edinburgh demonstrates our commitment to fair work in the following ways:

Real Living Wage

The University is accredited as a Living Wage Employer, voluntarily paying staff no less per hour than the rate set by the Living Wage Foundation, and we are committed to continuing to provide this benefit. 

Employee Voice

The University has individual and collective voice channels to listen to and engage with staff.  We are committed to working in partnership with our recognised Trade Unions, UCU, UNISON and Unite, and we regularly meet to engage and consult on employment matters.  We have well established forums to engage, consult and negotiate with our recognised trade unions, and in October 2022 we reviewed, updated and agreed our recognition agreements (terms of reference).  We also have a joint Unions and University monthly forum providing early awareness and escalation of Health, Safety and Wellbeing issues and improvement opportunities.

As a values-driven employer, we recognise that despite our strong employee offer, there is always more we can do.  We are not complacent about this and will continue to work with our Trade Union Partners to tackle challenges.  To recognise this commitment, we have a sector leading Facilities Time provision.

At an individual level, managers are encouraged to have regular one-to-ones with staff, and this practice has been widely adopted across the University.  The opportunity to have one-to-one discussions exists outside of the performance and development review process, which fosters effective working relationships. 

Workforce Development

One of the key aims of the People Strategy is for all staff to have the opportunity to develop personally and professionally to support individual and organisational achievement.  We aspire to ensure that all employees have time at work to develop the skills they need for the work they do. The University currently provides a number of resources to enable employees to maximise their potential, and will continue to develop its offering in the future.

No Zero Hour Contracts

The University of Edinburgh does not use zero hour contracts, and has a collective agreement on the employment of guaranteed minimum hours teaching staff and fixed term academic staff with UCU. 

Gender Pay Gap and EDI

Our gender pay gap mirrors the sector at around 15%, and we know this largely is because of the imbalance of men and women at different pay grades.  Our grade 10 population is 70% male, a situation we are acutely aware needs addressing.  We are working hard to improve academic promotion, recruitment and development opportunities for staff at all grades, especially in all diverse groups. If grade 10 is removed from the gender pay calculation, then our pay gap is 7.77%, which whilst halved, remains a concern and we will continue to monitor the impact of our improvements.

Monitoring of ethnicity and disability pay gaps will continue to progress as data capture and reporting improves, following the implementation of the employee data system. Our Equal Pay Audits are published on our website.

In addition to advancing equality pay parity, the University is committed to equality for all our staff and students.  The University’s Equality Strategy aims to embed equality and diversity across all of the University’s work, and seeks to promote a culture of inclusivity. We recognise that achieving this will always be a work in progress, and are committed to this.

Family Friendly Policies

In 2019, a full review of our family friendly policies at the University of Edinburgh took place.  An uplift to the enhanced pay for maternity, adoption and surrogacy and shared parental leave was agreed and implemented from June 2019.  In addition, there was the removal of any length of service requirement to be entitled to enhanced pay, so there is a ‘day one right’ for employees under these policies.  The University also has policies on Flexible Working, Emergency Time Off for Dependants, and Special Leave to allow employees to balance their personal and work commitments.

Opposing Fire and Rehire Practices

The University opposes, and does not engage in, ‘fire and rehire’ practices.