Independent Culture Fair Work Task Force Report and Recommendations - Easy Read version

Independent Culture Fair Work Task Force Report and Recommendations

Make a Fair Work Charter

It will say why Fair Work is good.

Employers of all shapes and sizes can choose to sign up to the Fair Work Charter. They should be praised if they do.

Fair Work and the Fair Work Charter should grow and develop over time.

Form a Fair Work Delivery Group

The Delivery Group will be mixed.

It should have enough funds to promote Fair Work well.

It will talk to Scottish Government and other public bodies about Fair Work and how things are going with employers signing up to it.

Disputes Resolution Board – a board that will sort things out when people do not agree about Fair Work

Scottish Government should set this up. It should be separate from the Fair Work Delivery Group.

Advice given should tell employers that trade unions and staff forums are good ways to work out issues.

The Disputes Resolution Board is there as a backup only if it is needed.

Support a campaign to promote Fair Work and create a Fair Work Resource Hub

The Scottish Government should support the Delivery Group to write and deliver a plan on talking about Culture Fair Work.

The plan should have new and different ways to reach people in all parts of Scotland to tell them about Fair Work.

Fair Work tools are already being used in the sector. The Scottish Government Creative Industries page could start to link to these now.

It will take time to gather information for the Fair Work Resource Hub so linking to things that are already there will help.

Give employers in Scotland's creative sectors a Fund to help them adopt Fair Work

We suggest between £250,000 and £500,000 per year over five years.

Develop tools to monitor and support employers who sign up to the Culture Fair Work Charter

The Scottish Government should work with the group to work out how to measure how well employers are meeting Fair Work conditions.

Good data will help employers to make better policy decisions. It will lead to support in the right places for the wider creative workforce in Scotland.

Change the law to make sure that self-employed workers have fair pay and better working conditions

Changing the law is the best way to give them pay security and good working conditions.

This will attract new people to the sector.

Scottish Ministers and the UK Government should think about how this could be done.

The Scottish Government should change Fair Work First to apply to self-employed people

The Fair Work Delivery Group should be invited to comment on the review of Fair Work First in July 2026.

Self-employed artists should have the basic standards UNESCO suggest for all self-employed people

The Task Force should ask the Scottish Government and everyone who has a public grant to do this as quickly as possible. It should also be put into law.

More research needs to be done on how the Universal Basic Income for artists that UNESCO suggests would work in Scotland

The Task Force suggests a pilot project for Basic Income for artists.

A Minimum Income Guarantee is a simple idea that would mean a big change.

A report on this was issued in June 2025.

Living Wage Scotland or other experts should be asked for advice on how "Minimum Income Standards" and "Real Living Hours." work together.

Show that tracking is happening and that rules are being followed

The public sector must set a good example and encourage others to adopt Fair Work.

Show that Fair Work policies are open and easy to report. Show that the

• public
• private
• third sectors

are made to follow the rules.

Creative Scotland along with other public bodies would be best suited to support the sector to adopt Fair Work.

Set up a Commission and Commissioner for Scotland for self-employed people

The Commissioner would push for best practices and standards in the industry in Scotland.

The Commissioner would look at problems that affect the industry. It would report to the Scottish Parliament.

The Commission would give feedback to Scottish Ministers and bring up problems that affect many areas. This would help shape policies.

Values and fairness

Technology is changing so quickly. It needs to be developed and used in a way that

• respects human rights
• gives everyone equal access
• keeps everyone safe.

Volunteers, interns and apprentices

Volunteers are valued.

Interns and apprentices should be paid.

Fair Work skills development

The Delivery Group should have a training plan for workers. They should check how well this plan is going.

They should think about what tools and resources are needed. They should be put in a place where everyone can find them.

Fair Work Skills Development Platform

This would give workers access to online learning.

Key Issues for a Fair Work Charter

Fair Pay and Working Conditions

Everyone who works in the sector should get a living wage.

Wages for full-time work should be at least £28,000.

Employers and self-employed workers should make sure that fair wages are built into service costs.

Everyone who works in the sector should be protected by fair working conditions that follow health and safety rules.

This includes disabled people.

Any disputes or poor working conditions will be looked at by the senior management team and board of an organisation.

The minimum standard of a living wage for self-employed people will be followed.

Making workers feel valued

AI can be used to help but not replace creative jobs.

People should be able to choose whether they want their data used.

Roles in the sector should be valued and paid jobs.

Being open about pay rates will help us to make sure that everyone is being paid fairly.

You must value the artist and the work if you value art.

Valuing creative works means helping disabled people with reasonable adjustments.

Examples are changing a building or hiring a BSL interpreter.

Valuing creative work needs strong safeguarding policies and processes that everyone knows and understands.

Valuing creative work means giving leaders the chance to grow in their careers.

Hiring staff from abroad should be as simple as possible.

Support programmes that are already in place and help them grow.

Protect the work and ideas of workers.

Sustainable Careers

Put health and well-being programmes in place for everyone in the sector.

Giving sensible due dates for work to be done.

Make sure that prices for work cover the real cost to the person doing the job.

Give everyone in and connected to the company training in mental health first aid and trauma-informed practice.

Respect and opportunity

Everyone has opportunities for career growth.

Boards are responsible for Fair Work plans.

Everyone must have training on unconscious bias.

Unconscious bias is when we judge or assume things about other people without knowing that we are doing it.

Using good systems will help make sure that hiring and moving up in the industry is fair and equal.

Making good policies will help

• parents
• carers
• care leavers
• other under-represented groups.

A wide range of people in the sector should be able to join boards.

Looking for board members from under-represented groups will set a good example.

Working for better rights for everyone in the sector is important.

There should be a national study of the working conditions of self-employed people in the sector.

There should be a change in the law to give self-employed workers more rights.

Making sure that Fair Work is equal for all

Removing barriers will help support workers from under-represented groups.

Collecting and looking at data on

• gender
• race
• disability

pay gaps will help to fix these.

Fair Work values

Staff forums should be set up that can hold the companies they work for to account.

Unions should have access to help

• negotiate contracts
• settle disputes
• set policy.

Support for artists-first licensing makes it easy for artists to license their work and get it in front of more people.

Creators should get support so that they keep control of their work.