Employer Accreditations

Armed Forces Covenant

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise that together we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy, and society they serve with their lives.

Members of the Armed Forces community bring a wealth of transferable skills and experiences to employers across the United Kingdom.

Awarded at 3 levels: Bronze, Silver & Gold  

Disability Confident

Disability Confident is creating a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people and people with health conditions.

Over 7.7 million people of working age in the UK are disabled or have a health condition. Historically there has been a significant gap between the proportion of disabled people employed compared with non-disabled people.

The scheme is voluntary and access to the guidance, self-assessments and resources is free.

The 3 levels are designed to support you on your Disability Confident journey. You must complete each level before moving on to the next.

• Committed (Level 1)
• Employer (Level 2)
• Leader (Level 3)

Stonewall

At Stonewall, we stand for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people everywhere. We imagine a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be ourselves and can live our lives to the full.

Diversity Champions is Britain’s leading programme for ensuring all LGBTQ+ staff are accepted without exception in the workplace.

The Stonewall Top 100 Employers list is compiled from the Workplace Equality Index – the UK’s leading benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. Completing the index is a voluntary annual exercise that enables employers to measure and improve their existing inclusion practices.

Young Person's Guarantee

The Young Person's Guarantee is a commitment to connect every 16 – 24 year olds in Scotland to an opportunity. As employers and partners in Scotland it is important that we help create opportunities for young people as they prepare for and embark into the world of work. This may be in the form of a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. It could also be an enterprise opportunity.

Happy to Talk Flexible Working

Working Families, with the support of the Government’s Flexible Working Taskforce, have developed the “Happy to Talk Flexible Working” strapline and logo to support employers on their journey to bringing more flexible roles to the market. By featuring this strapline and logo in job advertisements, employers can open up their recruitment to wider pools of talent and in turn create fairer and more inclusive workplaces.

Carer Positive Employer in Scotland

Carer Positive is a Scottish Government initiative delivered by Carers Scotland. Carer Positive aims to encourage employers to create a supportive working environment for carers in the workplace.

Carers represent a significant part of the working age population, in the workplace and also in the wider labour market. They are likely to represent 1 in 8 of your workforce. New rights for millions of people in the UK juggling their unpaid caring responsibilities with paid employment came into force from 6 April 2024 - The Carers Leave Act.

The Carer Positive Employer accreditation incorporates 3 levels from ‘engaged’ to ‘established’ through to ‘exemplary’; enabling employers to progress from one stage to the next.

Scottish Living Wage Accreditation

The real Living Wage accreditation in Scotland celebrate employers that choose to go above and beyond the government's national minimum wage, by paying the real Living Wage to all directly employed members of staff and regular contracted workers aged 18 years and above.

It is an independently calculated rate based on the cost of living and is paid voluntarily by committed employers. The rate is calculated annually by The Resolution Foundation on analysis of the wage that employees would need to earn to be able to afford a basket of goods required for a decent standard of living – including housing, childcare, transport and heating.

Athena Swan Charter

The Advance HE Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. Established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment, the Charter is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

The accreditation is awarded on 3 levels: Bronze, Silver & Gold

Race Equality Charter

The Advance HE Race Equality Charter aims to help universities and research institutes in their work to improve the representation, progression and success of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students within Higher Education; whilst also providing a framework for action and improvement.

Institutions can apply for a bronze or silver award, depending on their progress.

LGBT Charter

LGBT Youth Scotland is Scotland’s national charity for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Questioning and Intersex (LGBTQ+) young people.

LGBT offer 3 choices of programmes:

• LGBT Charter for Organisations – Public & Charity sector programme
• LGBT Charter for Education – Schools, Colleges and Universities programme
• LGBT Charter for Workplaces – Private sector programme

The LGBT Charter is an equalities accreditation programme for all types of organisations across Scotland. Being accredited with the LGBT Charter enables you to send a positive message, with confidence, that your organisation or education setting is a champion of LGBT inclusion where LGBTQ+ employees, students, customers, or service users will be safe, supported and included.

There are four levels of the LGBT Charter awarded: Foundations, Bronze, Silver & Gold

Investors in People

Investors in People accreditations are recognised around the world, making them the global benchmark when it comes to people management.

For over 30 years, we’ve worked with a huge range of organisations big and small from Public Sectors to SMEs to Charities to PLCs and anything in between.

So we know we speak your language and that through our three frameworks: We invest in people; We invest in wellbeing; and We invest in apprentices

Business in the Community Race at Work Charter

Business in the Community (BITC) is the UK’s largest and most influential responsible business network dedicated to building a fairer and greener world together, supported by His Majesty The King for over 40 years.

The BITC Race at Work Charter asks businesses to make a public commitment to improving equality of opportunity in the workplace.

Menopause Workplace Pledge

The Menopause Workplace Pledge is a commitment made by employers to create a supportive and inclusive workplace for employees experiencing menopause. It involves recognizing menopause as a legitimate workplace issue, fostering open and respectful conversations about it, and actively supporting affected employees. 

Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers

The annual rankings showcase employers providing some of the country’s most successful apprenticeship programmes, and help future apprentices, parents and career advisers identify opportunities with leading employers. The rankings are produced by the Department for Education and are independently verified.

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

SFHA is the membership body for, and collective voice of, housing associations and co‑operatives in Scotland. 

We exist to represent, support and connect our members. Together, we work to ensure that everyone has a safe, warm and affordable home. 

Inclusive Employers

Established in 2011, Inclusive Employers works with hundreds of organisations to audit, train and embed workplace inclusion. We are the first and leading membership organisation for employers committed to prioritising inclusion and creating truly inclusive workplaces. In inclusive workplaces, all employees are valued and contribute to the success of their organisation.

Technology Enabled Care (TEC) in Housing Charter

The Technology Enabled Care (TEC) in Housing Charter is a Scottish framework with seven pledges for housing providers to use digital tech (like remote monitoring, telehealth) to improve tenant support, focusing on outcomes, customer engagement, partnerships, preventative analytics, service redesign, workforce support, and getting the right infrastructure.

Menopause Workplace Pledge

Women make up nearly half of the UK workforce, yet many feel forced to reduce their hours, pass up promotions, or even leave their jobs due to lack of menopause support.

That's why we're calling on employers and employees to sign the Menopause Workplace Pledge and take positive action to make sure everyone going through the menopause is supported.

4 Day Week Foundation

The 4 Day Week Foundation leads the UK’s national campaign for a four-day working week. We’re campaigning across the UK to make a four-day, 32-hour working week with no loss of pay a reality.

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Numerous studies have shown that reducing working hours - while maintaining pay - improves wellbeing, work-life balance and productivity.

ISO, The International Organisation for Standardisation

International standards ensure that the products and services you use daily are safe, reliable, and of high quality. They also guide businesses in adopting sustainable and ethical practices, helping to create a future where your purchases not only perform excellently but also safeguard our planet. In essence, standards seamlessly blend quality with conscience, enhancing your everyday experiences and choices.+

Cyber Essentials Certified

Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed scheme designed to help organizations protect themselves against common online threats. It verifies that a business has established baseline technical controls, such as secure firewall configuration and access controls, making it ideal for organizations looking to lock down their digital assets

TrustMark

We are TrustMark - the only UK Government-Endorsed Quality Scheme for work carried out in and around the home. We are passionate about quality and assurance and what that means for homeowners and our Registered Businesses.

Since we started in 2005, we have been working to help drive-up standards across the industry and improve the protection offered to homeowners when having work done. We’re a not-for-profit business which means we can focus on our customers – homeowners and tradespeople - and not on shareholders.

NAPIT

We're a fast-growing government-approved and UKAS-accredited membership scheme operator in the building services and fabric sector.

With over 20,000 registered installers across the UK, we serve the electrical, heating, plumbing, ventilation, microgeneration, and building fabric trades in domestic, commercial, and industrial markets.

Committed to raising standards and safety with a friendly, common-sense approach, we operate our membership schemes through NAPIT Registration and NAPIT Certification.

MCS

MCS is the UK’s quality mark for small-scale renewable energy technologies like solar panels, heat pumps, and battery storage. We have two main roles – setting and maintaining standards, and providing consumer protection. 

Our standards define how renewable energy technologies should be designed and installed using MCS certified products – they are a benchmark for quality developed in close consultation with industry.

Octopus Trusted Partner

We have a lot of customers reaching out to us about low carbon technologies, but we can’t help everyone. To start, we’re building an affiliate network so we can refer those we can’t help to local installers who can.

Our partners retain their own identity, quotation, payment and job management, but we’ll be checking credentials to make sure installers meet our quality standards for both work and customer service, before confirming as a verified partner.

Scottish Social Services Council

We are the regulator for the social work, social care and children and young people workforce in Scotland. Our vision, as the regulator of the social service workforce in Scotland, is that the people of Scotland can count on social work, social care and children and young people services being provided by a trusted, skilled, confident and valued workforce.

Qualifications Scotland

Work-based learning helps learners of all ages prepare for the workplace, develop workplace skills, enhance their existing skills, and find a career pathway that suits them. HNCs and HNDs, PDAs, National Certificates and NPAs can develop the skills you need for a specific job – or improve skills you already have. Most courses are likely to have some learning in a workplace and might also include assessment in a workplace. These qualifications are developed with industry and based on industry standards.

Scottish Manual Handling Forum

The Scottish Manual Handling Forum (SMHF) is a professional network and associated local branch of the National Back Exchange that works to improve manual handling and safety standards across health and social care in Scotland.

Care Inspectorate

We are the national assurance and improvement support body for social care services and social work in Scotland. Our vision is that everyone in Scotland experiences high-quality, compassionate care, support and learning when they need it, which upholds their rights and choices.