Welcome to Salford City Mayor’s Employment Standards Charter accreditation and supporter network.

The Salford City Mayor's Charter for Employment Standards is designed to help raise employment standards for employees and businesses across the city.

Salford City Mayor's Charter

We hope that businesses and employers across Salford will support the suit of pledges focused on:

  • Investing in Salford’s workforce
  • Equality and inclusivity in Salford
  • The Salford Standard
  • Raising standards for businesses and employees across Salford

By working together we will promote social inclusion, drive economic growth and raise living standards in our city.

The charter is open to any private sector business, public sector organisation, voluntary or community organisation and social enterprise working in Salford.

Over 100 employers have signed up to the charter since it was launched in November 2013.

Gallery of people who have been involved with the charter

Benefits for businesses joining the Charter supporter network

  • Acknowledgement that an employer is committed to the highest employment standards and practices in the city
  • Contributing to wider economic prosperity and sustainability in the city - helping to keep consumer spend in Salford
  • Helping to demonstrate the quality of your business when seeking new business opportunities
  • Public recognition for your support for the Charter or having been recognised as a Charter Mark holder.
  • You will be entitled to use the Charter Supporter or Charter Mark recognition on your website and company literature
  • Your logo will appear on Salford City Council's web site so that prospective employees, commissioners and customers can easily see who supports the Salford City Mayor's Charter
  • Salford City Council will promote businesses which achieve the Charter Mark via social media

How to sign up and demonstrate your support?

How to become accredited. If your business meets the charter supporter criteria you can apply online for your free membership and accreditation.

If your business is not ready to meet the charter supporter criteria, you can stay in touch by making a pledge to work towards one or more of the standards to gaining support accreditation.

Learn more and apply

Salford City Council is also a partner in the Salford Social Value Alliance which is seeking to tackle inequality and poverty in Salford and improve the wellbeing and quality of life for people who live in Salford. More details about the Salford Social Value Alliance and how to pledge support for its 10% Better Campaign.

Making Salford a Living Wage City

Tackling poverty and creating a better, fairer Salford are two of my key priorities.

One way to ensure this is for more organisations and companies to pay the real Living Wage which is why Salford is aiming to become the first Living wage City in England. We have already been recognised by the Living Wage Foundation for this ambition.

The real Living Wage is independently calculated based on what people need to meet the true cost of living and is upgraded every year to reflect increases in living costs. It allows people to live in dignity without the fear of poverty.

We already have 47 accredited Living Wage employers in Salford. Many more firms are working towards accreditation or already pay the real Living Wage and our aim is to double the number of people working for an accredited Living Wage employer from 10,000 to 20,000 by 2022. The benefits to our people, our businesses and our economy will be immense.

People who receive the real Living Wage feel properly valued for the work they do and have more money to spend in the local economy.

But there are also huge benefits for employers. Workers who feel valued are more productive which benefits any organisation. They are more loyal which cuts recruitment costs or helps with attracting employees if posts need to be filled.

And it is welcomed by customers who increasingly want companies and organisations to demonstrate high employment standards and a social conscience.

This year’s pandemic has proved the value of key workers, particularly in health and social care. We need to repay that dedication and value them properly with the real Living Wage.

We’re proud that Salford City Council was the first local authority in Greater Manchester to pay the real Living Wage, uplifting the income of our lowest paid workers and of the progress we have made, as a city, since then.

We’re also proud that our campaign to increase the number of Salford based employers paying the real Living Wage is being supported by many employers in the private, public and voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, as well as our trade unions.

We understand these are challenging times for businesses, especially as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. But we should strengthen our resolve in pushing to get 20,000 Salfordians paid the real Living Wage, continue our commitment to tackling poverty, valuing people and boosting our economy and continue to campaign for the 40% of Salford’s workforce who earn less than the real Living Wage.

Read more about our Living Wage ambitions.

This page was last updated on 7 November 2023

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