Good Business Charter

We signed up to the Good Business Charter (GBC) accreditation scheme in June 2021.

We were the first city in the UK to sign up to the charter.

Good Business Charter ethical business components
Good Business Charter case studies
Good Business Charter organisations in York

Good Business Charter ethical business components

The GBC accreditation scheme measures an organisation’s behaviour over 10 ethical business components which collectively cover care for:

employees
suppliers
customers
the environment

The 10 GBC components are:

Real Living Wage
Fairer hours and contracts
Employee well-being
Employee representation
Diversity and inclusion
Environmental responsibility
Pay fair tax
Commitment to customers
Ethical sourcing
Prompt payment to suppliers

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, to commit to becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer within a mutually agreed time frame.

Read more about the GBC real Living Wage component.

GBC ethical business components

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.

Read more about the GBC fairer hours and contracts component.

GBC ethical business components

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.

Read more about the GBC employee well-being component.

GBC ethical business components

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.

Read more about the GBC employee representation component.

GBC ethical business components

Diversity and inclusion

The GBC requires businesses to evidence how they monitor the diversity of their workforce, and their commitment to close the gender, disability and ethnicity pay gaps.

Read more about the GBC diversity and inclusion component.

GBC ethical business components

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.

Read more about the GBC environmental responsibility component.

GBC ethical business components

Pay fair tax

The GBC requires businesses to commit to paying their taxes, not engage in tax avoidance, and to commit to be transparent in their relationship with HMRC.

Read more about the GBC pay fair tax component.

GBC ethical business components

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.

Read more about the GBC commitment to customers component.

GBC ethical business components

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.

Read more about the GBC ethical sourcing component.

GBC ethical business components