Question reference: S6W-05788
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 20 January 2022 Registered interest
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Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect the pay, conditions and employment rights of workers in the hospitality sector, in light of reported allegations against the MacMerry 300 and Abandon Ship hospitality group regarding mistreatment of its workforce.
Answer
While many aspects of employment law and particularly pay legislation are reserved to the UK Government, promoting fair pay is a key element of the Scottish Government’s Fair Work policy. Scottish Ministers believe that all workers should receive a fair pay for the work they do, regardless of their age and status.
The Scottish Government is committed to using all the levers it has at its disposal to promote fair work practices across Scotland including payment of the real Living Wage. We firmly oppose the inappropriate use of zero hours contracts and other non-standard types of employment that offer workers minimal job or financial security. We have set out our position in our Fair Work First approach and within our National Tourism Strategy; Outlook 2030 which states our commitment to support and enable the adoption of fair work practices in Scotland’s tourism sector.
The Scottish Government has made a clear commitment to promote collective bargaining through the inclusion of an employee voice indicator, measured by collective bargaining coverage, within the National Performance Framework. Our Fair Work Action Plan confirms our subsequent commitment to work with the STUC to achieve increased coverage focusing on four key sectors one of those being hospitality.
The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting strong Trade Unions in Scotland for the benefit of workers and our economy and have provided funding of £250,000 for the last six years to STUC to help unions embed the Fair Work Framework in workplaces in Scotland.
We also support Unite’s FH Charter which helps to promote fairer working practices for its members and all workers across the wider hospitality sector as Scotland recovers from Covid and beyond.