Today BIG Partnership announced that it has signed the Scottish Business Pledge, the Scottish Government’s new voluntary code for companies.
The Pledge asks companies to commit to the best of modern business practices and is designed to boost productivity, recognise fairness and increase diversity.
Made up of nine components, the Pledge means companies must pay the Living Wage to all direct employees over 18, deliver on at least two other elements and be committed to achieving the rest over time.
As well as paying the Living Wage, BIG Partnership also meets the criteria for prompt payment to suppliers and through a bar on the use of zero hours contracts.
BIG Partnership’s commitment to the Pledge comes after the recent announcement that it would pay all interns the voluntary living wage of £8.25 per hour.
Scottish-owned and funded, covering the whole of the country with offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dunfermline, BIG joins other companies and organisations such as Microsoft, STV, Mackie’s of Scotland, The University of Edinburgh, GSK, Coca Cola, Scottish Water, SSE, Virgin Money and KPMG who have all signed the Pledge.
By making a Pledge, companies can demonstrate their commitment to shared values and to delivering them through their actions and future plans.
The nine components of the Scottish Business Pledge are:
- Pay the living wage
- Don’t use exploitative zero hours contracts
- Support progressive workforce management
- Investing in youth
- Making progress on diversity and gender balance
- Committing to an innovation programme
- Pursuing international business opportunities
- Playing an active role in the community
- Committing to prompt payment
BIG Partnership founding director Neil Gibson said:
We want to be an employer of choice and play our part in building a successful and fair economy in Scotland. We firmly believe that committing to the Pledge will help us to make our business stronger in the years ahead.”
Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy Paul Wheelhouse said: “The Scottish Government is focused on stimulating growth, protecting and creating jobs and promoting Scotland as a great place to do business. I warmly welcome BIG Partnership signing the Scottish Business Pledge and joining a growing list of over 280 dynamic Scottish businesses who, as fellow signatories to the Pledge, are working with us to make Scotland both a more productive and fairer country.”
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