Fair Work Action Plan: indicator report 2026

Executive summary

The Fair Work Evidence Plan set out a monitoring framework for the Fair Work Action Plan, based around the broad outcomes articulated in the Action Plan. This report sets out the most recent data available for the framework’s indicators, which are used to monitor progress towards the outcomes set out in the Fair Work Action Plan.

This is the second consolidated report presenting data for these indicators, following the publication of the Fair Work Action Plan: indicator report 2025 in September 2025.

The Fair Work outcome measurement framework

The Fair Work Action Plan contained a range of actions intended to support delivery of the Scottish Government’s Fair Work objectives. Progress towards these objectives is monitored through the measurement framework outlined in the Fair Work Evidence Plan.

As there are several outcomes articulated in the Fair Work Action Plan, there is not a single measure that captures the different aspects of Fair Work. This means that groups of indicators are used to monitor progress in these areas.

Indicators may have a direct impact on a Fair Work outcome (‘attributional’ indicators) or be seen to make a positive contribution towards Fair Work aspirations.

Advice on the indicators

The following points should be considered when examining the indicators presented in this report:

• Individual indicators outlined in this report should not be viewed in isolation but in conjunction with others for that outcome. When viewed in isolation, an indicator may not fully capture all dimensions of that outcome.
• Time lags, both in terms of data reporting and policy impact, mean that the time periods presented for each indicator varies. Some data presented covers only the early period of the Fair Work Action Plan.
• This report draws on publicly available information.
• Trends in indicators will also be influenced by the wider economic context. These will have impacted Fair Work activities in recent years both in terms of how activities have been delivered as well as the outcomes achieved.

Data availability for the medium term outcome indicators is currently hampered by a number of factors including time lags and data quality issues particularly in relation to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS). Alternative sources have been included where possible.

Structure of the report

Data are provided against indicators for each of the following outcomes, which were articulated in the Fair Work Action Plan:

• Fair Work is embedded in the public sector
• Fair Work is embedded in public sector financial support
• Employers are supported to offer Fair Work
• People are supported to prepare for, access and sustain Fair Work

Fair Work is embedded in the public sector

• The Scottish Government continues to provide significant employment opportunities for women, with the proportion of women at senior levels increasing over time and accounting for a larger proportion of Senior Civil Servants in 2025.
• The mean pay gap for disabled people employed by the Scottish Government has narrowed between 2022 and 2025, while the mean pay gap for minority ethnic groups has widened during the same period. The mean gender pay gap narrowed slightly between 2022 and 2025. Median pay gaps have been more variable for all groups.

Fair Work is embedded in the public sector financial support

• The proportion of regulated contracts awarded by public bodies that contain a scored Fair Work First criterion increased from 25% in 2019/20 to 54% in 2023/24.
• The requirement to pay the real Living Wage to workers involved in the delivery of Scottish Government contracts came into force in October 2021 and in 2022/23 95% of suppliers with a live Scottish Government contract have committed to pay the real Living Wage.
• Partial data is available on numbers of discretionary grants issued by public sector organisations across Scotland. Between April 2025 and March 2026, public sector organisations across Scotland awarded 5,720 discretionary grants with Fair Work First conditionality applied, with a combined value of nearly £4.0 billion. Of these, 278 exceptions were approved for discretionary grants totalling £577.7 million.

Employers are supported to offer Fair Work

• In each of the last five years at least 450 employers in Scotland gained real Living Wage accreditation per annum. The Construction sector has the highest number of accredited employers.
• While the number of Living Hour accreditations in Scotland has increased annually from 2020/21 to 2024/25, from a small base, new accreditations slowed in 2025/26.
• Most employees aged 18+ in Scotland earn the real Living Wage or above.

People are supported to prepare for, access and sustain Fair Work

• The gender pay gap in Scotland for full-time employees has typically been narrowing over time. However, it has widened over the last two years from a series low. Data on pay gaps by ethnicity and disability is currently not available.
• Looking at long term trends the gender and disability employment gaps have narrowed over time, though the disability employment gap has widened over the last two years. The trend is less clear for the ethnicity employment gap due to greater variability in the estimates.
• The proportion of females, minority ethnic people and disabled people being supported through No One Left Behind has increased over time.
• Entering employment is the most common progression outcome for females, minority ethnic people and disabled people supported through No One Left Behind, but lower proportions have entered employment rather than their comparator groups (men, white people and people who are non-disabled respectively).