Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Angela Rayner MP visited Strathclyde this week to learn more about the University’s award-winning employment practices and workplace culture.
She was accompanied by Scottish Labour Party Leader Anas Sarwar MSP.
The visit comes on the back of the proposed Employment Rights Bill, introduced by the UK Government in October and currently going through legislative scrutiny process in the Westminster Parliament.
The Bill seeks to strengthen employment rights, including a ban on zero hours contracts and ‘hire-and-fire’ practices, parental leave as a right from day one, and improving access to statutory sick pay, amongst other things.
The DPM was hosted by Professor Scott MacGregor, Vice-Principal, and Gillian Docherty CBE, Chief Commercial Officer. She also heard about Strathclyde’s employment and workplace culture policies from Gordon Scott, Chief People Officer, and from Professors Patricia Findlay and Colin Lindsay of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research.
Top employer
She also listened to several University staff who spoke about their experience of Strathclyde’s employment and workplace culture policies – in areas including support for caregivers, flexible working and parental leave.
Professor MacGregor said: “We were delighted to host the Deputy Prime Minister and Mr Sarwar and to showcase the range of socially-progressive employment policies we have in place and our commitment to creating a Values-based workplace culture that supports staff to deliver our strategic plan whilst helping them and their families to thrive.
“The Deputy Prime Mister was very complimentary in recognising the efforts that went in to sharing many of our progressive policies, the experiences of our colleagues, and the underpinning research that is undertaken in the Scottish Centre for Employment Research.”
In recent years Strathclyde has won a number of awards for its employment practices – having been named Scottish Top Employer of the Year and Top Employer of the Year in the large business category at The Herald Top Employer Awards 2024.
Strathclyde was also named Employer of the Year in the cHeRries Awards 2024 in June, which celebrate excellence in the field of human resources, training and recruitment; Scotland’s Best Large Employer at the S1jobs Recruitment Awards in May 2022; and joint winner of the Best COVID-19 response award by work-life balance charity Working Families, as part of the 2021 Best Practice Awards.
All of the awards have recognised Strathclyde for its progressive initiatives such as the carers’ network, family friendly research leave and menopause policy, as well as initiatives such as Meeting Free Fridays, which were introduced during COVID-19 lockdown, and its strong focus on health and wellbeing of staff. Strathclyde is also committed to paying the Voluntary Living Wage.