Sefton Council has been awarded accreditation as a Liverpool City Region Fair Employer.

Last month, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Cllr Christine Howard and Head of Human Resources Jill Readfern collected the award from Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram.

Commitment

As well as showing Sefton Council’s commitment to the principle of fair employment, accreditation confirms it demonstrates key social value actions and commitments.

These include paying the Real Living Wage and clamping down on the insecure work or zero hours contracts. They also mean offering a trade unions a seat at the decision-making table and giving staff opportunities to progress and thrive.

Good and fair practices

Cllr Howard said: “Sefton Council being recognised as a fair employer in the Liverpool City Region scheme is important to us as it confirms our commitment to creating good and fair practices for our staff. I would like to thank Joanne Mercer in the Council’s HR Department for all her work in pulling together the evidence which enabled us to achieve the award.

“Achieving accreditation helps create a stable and productive workforce for the Council, which helps with efficiency and is also beneficial to our employees and their families, thousands of whom live in Sefton.”

Fairest, most equitable place in the country

Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham and the Combined Authority established the Fair Employment Charter with the aim of making the Liverpool City Region the fairest, most equitable place in the country in which to work or run a business.

Cllr Howard added: “I would urge employers across Sefton and the City Region to sign up for the scheme and work with the Combined Authority Team to gain accreditation.

“Achieving Fair Employer status will help you retain your existing employees and as well as enhancing the process of recruiting new ones and it can help your company meet requirements to access funding opportunities.”

Dignity

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Everyone deserves to be paid fairly and treated with dignity at work – that should be the bare minimum in any modern, decent society. Our Fair Employment Charter, developed with our trade union partners, is helping to make that a reality across our region. 

 “This is about celebrating and supporting the employers who do the right thing – those who provide secure jobs, pay a proper wage, and treat their staff with respect. And in return, we want to make sure they’re first in the queue when it comes to accessing support from the Combined Authority. 

“Where businesses fall short, we don’t want to punish them – we want to work with them to raise standards and bring them on the journey. Because the more employers we have committed to fair employment, the closer we get to making our region the best place in the country to live, work, and do business. I’d encourage others to sign up and be part of the movement.” 

Employers can find out more about the Liverpool City Region Fair Employer scheme at www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/fair-employment-charter.