Our Ten Components
To receive Good Business Charter accreditation, organisations must meet the requirements for all 10 components (9 for public or third sector) which collectively cover care for employees, suppliers, customers and the environment whilst paying your fair share of tax.
Our aim is to inspire as many organisations as possible to change their behaviour, where required, in order to sign up, which should in turn encourage wider good business practice.
The Good Business Charter commits organisations to:
Real Living Wage
The GBC requires all employers to pay directly employed staff and regularly contracted staff the real living wage as set out by the Living Wage Foundation and for those with over 50 employees, commit to becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer within a mutually agreed time frame.
Fairer Hours and Contracts
The GBC requires a fair approach to zero hours contracts, including fair shift scheduling and cancellation policy, and proper consideration given to contracts with guaranteed hours.
Employee Well-being
The GBC requires clear, fair and transparent policies that support and encourage employee well-being and ban unreasonable penalties for legitimate sickness.
Employee Representation
The GBC requires all employers to engage with worker representatives and to ensure there is a voice that represents employees around the boardroom table.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The GBC requires organisations to evidence how they analyse and monitor their EDI data against a baseline, using it to address disadvantage and discrimination.
Environmental Responsibility
The GBC requires businesses to commit to an environmental policy to demonstrate they are committed to reducing their environmental impact and continually improving their environmental performance.
Pay Fair Tax
The GBC requires businesses to commit to paying their taxes, not engage in tax avoidance and commit to be transparent in their relationship with HMRC.
Commitment to Customers
The GBC requires businesses to publish their commitment to their customers on their website. Businesses will be expected to gather and monitor customer feedback and report the results to their board.
Ethical Sourcing
The GBC requires businesses to commit to the standards set out in the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code for sourcing through a process of continuous due diligence.
Prompt Payment to Suppliers
The GBC requires businesses to sign the government’s Prompt Payment Code.