Employers can now sign up to the Good Student Employer Charter!
Based on our research into employment practices around zero-hours contracts and student-worker experiences, Hospitality, Now! has developed a set of good practice principles and pledges for employers.
Why have a Charter?
Our research has shown that student-workers with zero-hours contracts can struggle to combine work and study. Students represent a significant proportion of hospitality workers. By committing to the Good Student Employer Charter, you and your student-workers can reap the mutual benefits of a more flexible and fairer approach.
Why sign up?
By signing up to the pledges of the Good Student Employer Charter, your business can make a meaningful difference to the experiences of student-workers whilst benefiting from a more engaged student workforce. The Good Student Employer Charter materials you receive will enable your business to publicise your good working practices and enhance your reputation as a desirable employer for students. The materials can be displayed in the workplace as well as digitally on websites and social media.
Adopting good student employment practices will have clear material benefits for both business and the sector by enabling businesses to recruit committed student-workers, retain them for longer, and increase the potential for high-calibre students returning to the sector after study.
Signatories of The Good Student Employer Charter
Discover who has signed up to The Good Student Employer Charter
We have signed up to the Good Student Employer Charter to showcase hospitality as a great career opportunity for students and to grow stronger connections with the education sector. We joined the Charter because we want to better understand the needs of students needing to balance work and study, so that we can support them better.
Students are often full of ambition and a pure willingness to be a sponge for knowledge, and they can become long-standing team members. We can provide students with potential management and growth opportunities, even in part-time roles, which gives them skills and confidence when moving into the professional work environment, post-education.
The main challenges of hiring students are coursework pressures and availability. They can be very exhausted, trying to maintain study, social life and work life. It’s important for employers to understand students’ short, medium and long-term needs before deciding where to place them in your business. It is also key to ensure that there is a clear support map in place, and be understanding of outside of work pressures
Charlotte Bennett
Director, Healing Manor Hotel
The 8 Principles of Good Student Employment
1
Stability of income allows student-workers to plan ahead, buy food and pay bills without worry.
2
Flexibility of working hours enables students to balance work with study.
3
Meaningful inductions and on-the-job training increase student-workers’ confidence.
4
Recognition of student-workers’ contributions through equitable remuneration and in-work benefits increases loyalty and retention.
5
Cultivation of a safe working environment and developing policy on dealing with harassment increases wellbeing and improves performance.
6
Freedom for student-workers to share perspectives increases engagement with work.
7
Inclusion of student-workers in work social events and outings increases feelings of worth and belonging.
8
Development and promotion of student-workers facilitates socialisation into work and helps develop future leaders and professionals in the field.
Employer Pledges
As part of the commitment to the Good Student Employer Charter, member organisations make the following pledges:
To make efforts to ensure students are notified in advance of their shift schedules and to keep short-notice changes to a minimum.
To make visible any policies around harassment and to equip student-workers with guidance on the prevention and reporting of abuse in the workplace.
To seek to schedule shifts in greater collaboration with student-workers and with consideration of revision and exam timetables.
To include student-workers in staff social events and team building activities.
To aim to ensure student-workers are offered inductions that enable them to better understand the culture and practice of the workplace, and to open up any suitable in-work training opportunities to them.
To greater acknowledge the distinct needs of student-workers and to recognise their experiences and contributions through incentivisation and remuneration where appropriate.
To take steps towards helping student-workers feel part of the staff team and have the opportunity to be included in staff meetings and consultations on workplace matters.
To seek to identify and incorporate future work development and training opportunities that open up the potential of attracting, developing and retaining student-workers.
Join the Charter
Hospitality, Now! invites employers to sign up to the Good Student Employer Charter and to incorporate its principles and pledges in their employment practices with student-workers.
