Ripples Joins The Good Business Charter
We’re really pleased to announce that we have joined the Good Business Charter (GBC), an accreditation that seeks to raise the bar on business practices for employees, tax, the environment, customers and suppliers.
The Good Business Charter exists for all companies, charities and public sector organisations across all industries and sectors. At a time when people are caring more about who they work for and who they buy from, the Good Business Charter offers a straightforward accreditation which recognises organisations that prioritise and care for their employees, the environment, customers and suppliers, whilst also paying their taxes according to the spirit of the law.
As a member of the GBC, we commit to:
1. Real Living Wage
Pay directly employed staff and regularly contracted staff the real living wage as set out by the Living Wage Foundation.
2. Fairer hours and contracts
Commit to a fair approach to zero or minimal hours contracts including fair shift scheduling and cancellation policy. with proper consideration given to contracts with guaranteed hours.
3. Employee well-being
Clear, fair and transparent policies that support and encourage employee well-being and ban unreasonable penalties for legitimate sickness.
4. Employee Representation
Engage with work representatives and ensure there is a voice that represents employees around the boardroom table.
5. Diversity and inclusion
Commit to ensure an inclusive workplace and measures in place to encourage diversity and monitor it.
6. Environmental responsibility
Commit to reducing environmental impact and continually improve environmental performance.
7. Pay fair tax
Commit to pay all taxes, not engage in tax avoidance and be transparent with HMRC.
8. Commitment to customer
Publish a commitment to customers as well as gather and monitor customer feedback and report the results to the board.
9. Ethical sourcing
Commit to the standards set out in the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code for sourcing through a process of continuous due diligence.
10. Prompt payment to suppliers
Sign the government's Prompt Payment Code.
The Good Business Charter has the support of both the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which both have trustee representation on its board. Other partners of the GBC include the Living Wage Foundation and the Prompt Payment Code. The GBC has been set up by a charity called the Good Business Foundation.
Chairman of the GBC board, Simon Fox said: “The Good Business Charter brings together 10 standards, most of which already exist, but in separate places. We have brought them together to give a coherent overall position for businesses to aspire to. We believe that the GBC has enormous potential to change business practice for good. We hope that because of its simplicity and cost-effectiveness, it will quickly gain support.”
Sean Donnelly, Co-Founder and CEO of Ripples, added: “All businesses should do good and act with decency and humanity. But publicly adhering to a specific set of standards set out by the Good Business Charter is a great way to formalise our commitment to this at Ripples. As a fundraising platform working in the charity sector, it’s even more important that we hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards and actively try to exceed expectations in this area.”