Employment Charters

Description and History

Employment charters (also known as fair employment charters or good work charters) are an organizing framework that define and support employers to operationalize the core tenets of good work (NGIN 2020). According to the Institute for the Future of Work, there are ten fundamental principles of “good work”: 1) access; 2) fair pay; 3) fair conditions; 4) equality; 5) dignity; 6) autonomy; 7) wellbeing; 8) support; 9) participation; and 10) learning. These principles—when practiced in interconnected ways—are more than the sum of their parts, promoting individual and collective flourishing (Institute for the Future of Work 2018). 

Though more prevalent in Europe (Center for Progressive Policy 2020), employment charters—and, perhaps, the overall concept of fair work from a legislative perspective—can be traced back to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which established a federal minimum wage, the 40-hour work week, and legal protections against child labor. 

Employment Charters, Fair Work, and the Community Wealth Building Wedge 

Employment charters are often a helpful starting point for localities interested in advancing fair work. They provide both workers and employers with a philosophical and practical understanding of the elements that make a dignified workplace possible. Though not legally binding, because these charters are often publicly accessible, they can serve as an accountability mechanism by employers’ local communities. 

Under a system of wage labor where workers rely on fair pay to meet their basic needs (i.e. food, housing, transportation, childcare, etc.), these charters clearly articulate the terms of employment that ensure job security and prevent under- or unemployment. Some even go so far as to ensure that all workers receive appropriate benefits—from healthcare to pensions. In these ways, workers are able to build wealth alongside income. 

Beyond promoting health, safety, and overall wellbeing for workers, these charters often include concrete ways in which worker voice and representation is front and center in the workplace. Not only do these provisions encourage union recognition and membership—another critical element of the fair work pillar—but also inspire businesses to consider alternative ownership structures such as inclusive and democratic enterprises. 

Finally, employment charters—when adopted by anchor institutions—also have the potential to diversify recruitment and hiring processes, building employment pipelines that promote social and economic mobility for local residents. Others also make stipulations for local impact and ecological sustainability via progressive recruitment practices like buying local and reducing the company’s overall carbon footprint (Center for Progressive Policy 2020). 


Examples

Department of Commerce and Department of Labor Good Jobs Principles

In 2022, the US Departments of Labor and Commerce published the Good Jobs Principles to inform billions of dollars in federal funding to create new jobs in infrastructure, clean energy, and manufacturing. These principles include: 

  • an equitable and inclusive recruitment and hiring processes; 

  • family-sustaining benefits that promote economic security and mobility; 

  • adherence to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA); 

  • encouragement/empowerment to form and join a union (without retaliation) and/or representation in the workplace;   

  • job security and safe working conditions (including proactive scheduling and minimization of contractor worker classifications); 

  • a strong, respectful organizational culture; 

  • a stable and predictable living wage that increases with more education/skills; and 

  • access to career advancement opportunities and tools (US Department of Labor n.d.). 

These principles were used to inform the selection criteria and process for the US Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) $25 million Good Jobs Challenge in FY 2024 (EDA 2024). In FY 2023, the monies were used to support 32 regional workforce training systems to place workers in good jobs in targeted industries (EDA 2023). Ultimately, the program is projected to employ more than 50,000 Americans in good jobs. 

While this federal example is a great first step to more dignified labor in the States, many localities in Europe have been leveraging employment charters for years. A helpful index of these charters can be found here (NGIN 2020). 

Challenges and Limitations 

While employment charters are a helpful framework for both workers to advocate for themselves and employers to offer practical guidance for fostering a dignified workplace, they are, ultimately, unenforceable. Without mechanisms such as unions, progressive policy, or “soft law” instruments, workers are often at the mercy of their employers to see any real change in their workplace.


Taking It Forward

For employers, workers, legislators, researchers, and other civil society advocates for fair work, the Institute for the Future of Work’s Good Work Charter Toolkit provides a summary of regulations, codes, and tech-forward guidance to advancing the ten principles of good work (as articulated above). Our very own Community Wealth Building action guide also provides a set of questions to consider and steps for getting started that ensure a comprehensive (i.e. enforceable) commitment to fair work. 


Additional Resources