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Good Employer Charter

Good Employer Croydon is a free accreditation scheme aimed at organisations that want to become part of the Good Employer Croydon Network and gain recognition as good employers and responsible businesses.

Good Employer Charter

 

To become accredited, and join the Good Employer Network, interested organisations need to meet the Good Employer Charter

 

The Charter represents practical ways by which Croydon businesses can contribute to creating a strong local economy.

The Charter aims to encourage employers to pay a fair wage.

Accredited organisations are required to pay their staff the London Living Wage - a voluntary hourly rate set independently and updated annually by the Living Wage Foundation - and give consideration to other fair wage practices, such as eradicating modern slavery from supply chains and reducing the gender pay gap. To meet the criteria for the Pay Fair pillar, your organisation will need to:

 

  • Become accredited as a Living Wage Employer with the Living Wage Foundation;
  • Register the organisation's interest in becoming a Living Wage Employer with the Living Wage Foundation; or
  • Confirm all direct staff are paid the London Living Wage via a payroll spotcheck.

Not currently paying the London Living Wage but would like to become GEC accredited? We operate a 12-month grace period where your organisation commits to paying all direct staff the London Living Wage within 12 months of gaining GEC accreditation. Croydon Council and the Living Wage Foundation will work in partnership with interested organisations and support them through the steps to become an accredited Living Wage Employer. For more information about the Living Wage and to become an accredited Living Wage Employer, please visit the Living Wage Foundation website.

The Charter seeks to create sustainable local employment and training opportunities in Croydon.

Accredited organisations are required to use Croydon Works to promote and recruit to vacancies - Croydon Council's free-to-use professional recruitment service which links employers to high quality, job-ready potential employees. To meet the criteria for the Employ Croydon pillar, your organisation will need to:

 

  • Complete, sign and upload the Croydon Works Service Level Agreement (available to download here) as part of the accreditation application form.

Croydon Works will work in partnership with GEC members to provide free recruitment support including placing and promoting vacancies with Croydon Works, assessing immediate and/or future recruitment needs and creating new apprenticeship or traineeship placement opportunities. For more information about Croydon Works, please visit the Croydon Works website.

The Charter seeks to support Croydon's small businesses and promote local supply chain opportunities.

Accredited organisations are required to seek quotes and use Croydon suppliers where possible. To meet the criteria for the Buy Croydon pillar, your organisation will need to:

 

  • Provide an example of a Croydon supplier in your current supply chain, stating the goods/services they provide and the value of the work; or
  • Commit to seeking quotes and having multiple Croydon businesses in your supply chain within the next 12 months.

Buy Croydon is supported by Value Croydon which aims to build buyer-supplier relationships, provide commissioning and procurement support and ensure business opportunities are visible and accessible to the local market. For more information about Value Croydon, please visit the Value Croydon website.

The Charter encourages businesses to implement best practice in fairness, equality and sustainability throughout their business practices.

Accredited organisations are required to commit to continuous improvement across the fields of equality and diversity, staff wellbeing and development and/or environmental sustainability. To meet the criteria for the Be Best pillar, your organisation will need to:

 

  • Upload a copy of your equality and diversity policy (a template is available to download here) as part of the accreditation application form;
  • Give an example of a current initiative you have implemented related to workplace equality, diversity and inclusion; and
  • Give an example of a current initiative you have implemented related to staff health and wellbeing, workforce training and development or environmental sustainability.

 A library of initiatives and resources of potential schemes you could implement and quote on your application form can be found here.

The application of the Charter principles will be unique to each member organisation and should be relevant and proportionate to the size of the business and sector they operate in. The ambition of the charter is to recognise that by embracing the network's principles, defining what they mean to the organisation and incorporating appropriate policies and practices to reflect them in the day-to-day operations, any business (no matter how big or small) can become a better employer and contribute to strengthening the local economy. 

 

Our mission

 

Our Good Employer Croydon Network mission is to build a network of Good Employers that do business responsibly, enabling both our employers and employees to benefit as our economy grows. Our work will support the success of the local economy through using local supply chains, creating local job opportunities, ensuring employees are paid a fair wage and promoting best practice in equality and diversity, staff wellbeing and development and environmental sustainability. Through our efforts we will change the lives of Croydon’s citizens and shape the identity of our borough, making it a place that thrives for its people. 

 

Our Long-Term Vision

 

A dynamic, diverse and inclusive Croydon economy, harnessing everyone’s creativity and potential to ensure long term sustainable growth and good work that benefits all.

Croydon Council