Fair Work First Statement
Knowes Housing Association Ltd (KHA) is a Registered Social Landlord and a Registered Charity. We are full members of Employers in Voluntary Housing. https://www.evh.org.uk/.
See also the EVH/Unite Joint Statement on Fair Work First here - EVH Joint Statement On Fair Work First
Knowes Housing Association Ltd is committed to ensuring that there are fair working practices in place and demonstrates its commitment to the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First Policy by confirmation of the following:-
Appropriate channels for effective voice
A collective bargaining agreement on member salaries exists between EVH and the Unite Union. All of Knowes' employees are given the opportunity to join Unite.
All of our employees are given the opportunity to input into our Business Plan Objectives, our Business Strategy, Vision and Mission Statements and Core Values.
Our Employees are asked to give their feedback and views on work practices, work procedures, staff wellbeing and health and safety, general concerns and staff team building events through e-mails, staff meetings, regular team briefings, one to one meetings with managers and written communications to managers.
As required, staff will form short life working groups to look at particular areas of workplace development and will feedback their findings and views to the Management team and Committee. From time to time we will survey staff to allow them to give their views and suggestions on KHA as a workplace anonymously.
Investment in workplace development
KHA currently holds Investors in People Accreditation at Silver Level and the Customer Services Excellence Award. We are committed to developing staff through annual staff training plans and performance reviews of all employees. We have a budget for employee training and development, we actively support staff to be members of relevant professional bodies and provide support for them to obtain their CPD requirement each year by attendance at forums, training courses and networking events.
No inappropriate use of zero hours contracts
We have no zero hour contracts – all of our staff have an EVH Terms and Conditions Contract of Employment which clearly states their number of hours contracted for each week as well as their annual salary.
Commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive work place
There is no gender pay gap within our organisation. We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer. We collect and review information on applicant and employee equality measures. We have a suite of HR and Employee Policies which we regularly review and consult our employees on.
Commitment to paying the Real Living Wage
EVH sets our salary scales and all our employees are paid in accordance with EVH salary scales. The bottom points of EVH salary scales reflect the real living wage. Current apprentices are also paid the Real Living Wage.
Commitment to offering flexible and family friendly working practices
We have a flexible working policy and employees are given the opportunity for both flexible and hybrid working. We continually review working patterns for new and existing employees and our flexible and family friendly working practice policies are available to all employees. We also hold Carers Positive accreditation.
We oppose the use of fire and rehire practices
We have a recruitment policy and procedure and we oppose the use of fire and rehire practices
