A new report published independent group chaired by entrepreneur and former Scottish Government minister Jim Mather the outlines various recommendations to improve workplace relations – which are also anticipated to improve productivity leading to economic growth.
The Working Together Review: Progressive workplace policies in Scotland, has been welcomed by Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women’s Employment. Constance has stated that she will work with unions and employers to create a response which will take into account all of the participants economic aspirations.
The report includes various proposals aimed at fostering better relations in the working environment throughout all sectors in Scotland. Proposals include;
• Creating a new body to be a leader and provide guidance on industrial relations. This will include the sharing of best practice guidelines.
• Furthermore, this newly established body will investigate ways of increasing workplace democracy across the public, private and third sectors.
• There are also plans for Union involvement in implementing the recommendations from the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce
• Legislation to ensure worker representation is to be implemented which will ensure representation on the board of every public sector body
• Public sector bodies should dedicate a section of their annual report to their approach to industrial relations. Furthermore, in the public sector, Union and employer representatives should engage in training to assist in building mutual understanding and trust.
Constance said:
“Scotland has had a consistently strong trade union voice dating back decades, something we should be very proud of. I want to see that voice enhanced with the trade union movement continuing to be a key contributor to Scotland’s economic success. While the economy has returned to pre-recession levels and employment levels have reached a record high, our ambitions for growth do not stop there. The review group has produced a thorough, well-evidenced and insightful report on the sorts of progressive labour market policies and practices which are likely to enhance business productivity through more effective engagement between employers and employees”.
The Scottish Government commissioned the independent review of progressive workplace policies and practices in the public and private sectors in Scotland in February 2014. The review focused on measures to make the most of relationships between trade unions, employers and government, and was charged with making recommendations on;
•Innovative opportunities that could enhance development in the work place, enhance productivity, and security and resilience in the labour market;
• What exactly is good work practice in this area as well as what the principles underpinning it are. Also, the benefits that good work place realtions can deliver and how they might be more widely used and supported;
• how to promote collective bargaining, greater workplace democracy, greater diversity and equality and more specifically greater participation of women.
The idea behind the review was drawn from economic trends and a belief that Scotland generally benefits from better industrial relations. Furthermore, while Scotland s productivity is equivalent to that of the UK, the UK as a whole does not quite come up to the G7 average.
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