Fair Work First is now a familiar part of many Scottish public sector tenders. For suppliers, it can appear as a dedicated quality question, a contract condition, a scored method statement or a requirement linked to workforce practices.
A strong response needs to do more than say your organisation treats people well. It should explain how your employment practices support the successful delivery of the contract, how they apply to the workers involved, and what evidence you can provide.
The Scottish Government’s Fair Work First policy is distinct in procurement from its application to grants, and public bodies are expected to implement and promote Fair Work First in relevant procurement processes. Suppliers delivering public contracts are expected to adopt and demonstrate appropriate fair work practices for workers engaged in delivery.
For bidders responding to public sector tenders in Scotland, that means treating Fair Work First as a scored delivery issue, not a generic HR policy paragraph. AM Bid’s guide to public sector tenders in Scotland covers this and other evaluation priorities that Scottish buyers regularly apply.
What is Fair Work First?
Fair Work First is the Scottish Government’s policy for encouraging high-quality and fair work across Scotland’s labour market. In procurement, the seven criteria are:
- Appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice, such as trade union recognition
- Investment in workforce development
- No inappropriate use of zero-hours contracts
- Action to tackle workplace inequalities, including pay and employment gaps
- Fair pay for workers, including payment of at least the real Living Wage where relevant
- Flexible and family-friendly working practices
- Opposition to the use of fire and rehire practices
These criteria are set out in the Scottish Government’s statutory guidance on Fair Work First requirements in procurement. The important point for bidders is that Fair Work First is not just a list to repeat back to the buyer. Your response needs to show how these practices are embedded, monitored and linked to contract performance.
Relevance and proportionality
Fair Work First questions should be relevant and proportionate to the contract. The Scottish Government’s statutory guidance confirms that contracting authorities must consider relevance and proportionality before including Fair Work First questions, and that they should be evaluated alongside other relevant criteria, with an appropriate balance between quality and cost.
This is why Fair Work First carries particular weight in service-heavy contracts where workforce quality has a direct impact on delivery. It can also be relevant in works and goods contracts where the people delivering, manufacturing, constructing, supporting or managing the contract affect quality, safety, continuity or customer experience. The practical question for suppliers is simple: how do your workforce practices help you deliver a better, more reliable public contract?
Start with the contract workforce
A common mistake is to write about your whole organisation without explaining how the approach applies to the people who will deliver the contract.
A stronger answer starts with the contract workforce: directly employed staff, agency workers, subcontractors, delivery partners and other workers engaged in contract delivery. The Scottish Government’s statutory guidance is clear that economic operators should be able to describe how they adopt Fair Work First for all workers engaged in delivering public contracts, including agency and subcontractor workers.
Before drafting, map out who will be involved. Then explain how Fair Work First applies to each group. A facilities management supplier might need to cover cleaners, supervisors, helpdesk staff and subcontracted maintenance engineers. A care provider may need to cover frontline care workers, coordinators, managers and agency cover. A construction contractor may need to cover site teams, specialist subcontractors, apprentices and supply chain partners. This makes the response far more credible because it connects employment practices to the actual delivery model.
Fair pay and the real Living Wage
Payment of the real Living Wage is one of the clearest ways suppliers can demonstrate a commitment to fair work. Contracting authorities can require payment of at least the real Living Wage to workers delivering public contracts where Fair Work First is relevant to delivery, non-discriminatory, proportionate and the contract will be delivered by workers based in the UK.
A good tender response should explain your pay approach clearly. Do not simply state that you pay fairly. Instead, explain what rate applies, who it applies to, how it is reviewed and how you ensure relevant workers are covered. Useful evidence includes:
- A clear statement on payment of at least the real Living Wage
- Confirmation of which contract workers are covered
- Pay review processes
- Payroll or HR controls
- Real Living Wage accreditation, where held
- Subcontractor requirements
- Evidence from previous contracts
- Processes for responding to annual rate changes
If your approach differs across worker groups, explain that clearly. Evaluators need confidence that your commitment can be delivered in practice.
Effective workers’ voice
Effective workers’ voice is about giving workers meaningful ways to contribute, raise issues and influence decisions. It can include trade union recognition, worker representatives, staff forums, surveys, one-to-one supervision, team meetings and formal consultation routes.
The key word is “effective”. A staff survey is useful only if it leads to action. A forum is stronger if it has agreed terms of reference, senior ownership and a process for feeding back outcomes. A grievance procedure is necessary but not the same as regular worker engagement.
A strong response should explain what voice channels are available, who can access them, how often they are used, how issues are escalated, how management responds and what has changed as a result of worker feedback.
For example: We operate monthly team meetings, quarterly employee forums and an annual confidential staff survey. Feedback is reviewed by our senior management team, with actions logged and reported back through team briefings. On a recent public sector contract, feedback from frontline staff led to revised shift handover guidance, improving continuity and reducing missed updates during service transitions.
This type of answer is stronger because it shows the system, the governance and the outcome.
Workforce development
Workforce development is often a strong area for suppliers, but many tender responses still describe it too generally. Instead of writing that “all staff receive training”, explain how training is planned, delivered and reviewed. Then, link it to the contract specification and the risks of delivery.
Depending on the contract, useful evidence might include training matrices, induction plans, role-specific qualifications, CPD records, supervision and appraisal processes, apprenticeships or trainee routes, leadership development, and evidence of training completion rates and progression.
For a healthcare, transport, housing or facilities contract, workforce development may directly affect service quality and user safety. For a professional services contract, it may relate to technical knowledge, continuity and quality assurance. Suppliers using bid writing support in Scotland can often improve Fair Work First responses by turning internal HR processes into clear, scored evidence linked back to the buyer’s requirements.
Zero-hours contracts
Fair Work First asks suppliers to show that they do not make inappropriate use of zero-hours contracts. This does not necessarily mean buyers expect no flexible or casual working arrangements at all. It does mean suppliers need to explain how they avoid exploitative or inappropriate use.
A good response should be clear about whether zero-hours contracts are used, why they are used if applicable, whether workers can refuse work without penalty, how notice of shifts is provided, and whether workers have routes into guaranteed-hours roles. Avoid defensive wording. If you do not use zero-hours contracts, say so and explain how you resource peaks in demand. If you do use them in limited circumstances, explain the safeguards.
Workplace inequalities and inclusion
Fair Work First includes action to address workplace inequalities, including pay and employment gaps for disabled people, racialised minorities, women and workers aged over 50. Strong answers avoid broad statements such as “we are an equal opportunities employer” unless they are supported by practical evidence.
Better evidence could include equal pay reviews, gender pay gap reporting where applicable, inclusive recruitment practices, adjustments for disabled workers, leadership or progression initiatives, workforce diversity monitoring and anti-discrimination training. The best responses are honest and practical. If you are still improving, explain your current position, the actions being taken and how progress is reviewed.
Flexible and family-friendly working
Flexible and family-friendly working can support retention, wellbeing and service continuity. The Scottish Government’s Fair Work First guidance includes offering flexible and family-friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment as one of the criteria.
Your response should explain what is available from day one, how requests are handled and how flexibility is balanced with contract delivery. For frontline services, flexibility may need to be more carefully designed. A supplier can still give a strong answer by explaining how rotas, notice periods, manager discretion and contingency cover support workers while maintaining the service.
Fire and rehire
Fair Work First asks suppliers to oppose fire and rehire practices. In a tender response, this should be more than a one-line policy statement. Suppliers should explain how they manage workforce change fairly, covering consultation processes, employee engagement, collective consultation where relevant, and a preference for agreed solutions.
A clear response might say that the organisation does not use fire and rehire as a workforce management tool, and that any proposed changes to terms and conditions are handled through consultation, impact assessment and engagement with affected workers or their representatives.
Supply chain and subcontractors
For many public sector contracts, buyers will want confidence that Fair Work First commitments are not limited to the prime contractor. If subcontractors, delivery partners or agencies will be involved, explain how you will manage Fair Work First through the supply chain, including supplier onboarding checks, contract clauses, pay and employment practice declarations, regular supplier reviews and escalation processes.
This is particularly important for Scottish frameworks, where suppliers may need to demonstrate that their approach can be applied consistently across multiple call-offs, client organisations and delivery locations.
Evidence matters more than policy wording
Policies can support a Fair Work First response, but they are rarely enough on their own. Evaluators need to see how your policies are applied.
For example, instead of: We invest in our workforce through regular training and development.
A stronger version would be: All contract staff complete a role-specific induction before mobilisation, followed by mandatory annual refresher training and quarterly supervision. Training completion is monitored through our HR system and reviewed monthly by the Contract Manager. On our current public sector contract, 96% of frontline staff completed all mandatory training within the required period, with outstanding modules escalated through line management.
This gives the evaluator a process, clear ownership, frequency, monitoring and evidence. A structured bid review and comment process can help identify where a Fair Work First answer is too policy-led, lacks proof or fails to explain how commitments apply to the contract workforce.
Common mistakes to avoid
Fair Work First responses often lose impact because they are too generic. Before submitting, check whether your answer avoids these common issues:
- Repeating the seven criteria without explaining delivery
- Describing organisation-wide policies without linking them to the contract
- Ignoring agency workers or subcontractors
- Making real Living Wage statements without explaining scope
- Treating workers’ voice as a staff survey only
- Listing training without showing how it is planned or monitored
- Making inclusion claims without evidence
- Failing to explain how flexible working operates in frontline roles
- Providing a policy-heavy answer with limited examples
- Not tailoring the response to the buyer’s service, users or sector
The answer should make it easy for evaluators to award marks. If the buyer asks for examples, include examples. If the question asks how you will monitor Fair Work First, explain governance, measures and reporting. If the question asks how practices support contract delivery, make that link explicit.
Build a Fair Work First evidence pack
Suppliers that regularly bid for Scottish public sector work should not wait until a tender lands to gather Fair Work First evidence. A practical evidence pack might include:
- Fair Work First policy or statement
- Real Living Wage evidence
- Employee voice arrangements and staff forum or survey outputs
- Workforce development plan and training matrix
- Inclusion and equality evidence
- Flexible working policy and examples
- Zero-hours contract position
- Fire and rehire statement
- Subcontractor management process
- Case studies showing workforce practices improving delivery
This evidence pack can then be tailored for each tender rather than recreated under deadline pressure. It is also useful for bid and tender management because it gives contributors a shared evidence base before drafting starts.
How AM Bid can help
Fair Work First responses can be challenging because they sit between HR, operations, contract management and bid writing. The strongest answers usually need input from several people, then a clear writer to turn that information into a focused tender response.
AM Bid supports organisations across Scotland with bid writing, bid management and tender reviews, helping suppliers produce responses that are clear, compliant and aligned to Scottish public sector evaluation criteria. For Fair Work First questions specifically, AM Bid can help you interpret what the buyer is asking for, identify the right evidence, structure the response, avoid generic wording and explain how your workforce practices support contract delivery.
Need support with a Scottish tender?
Fair Work First can influence how buyers assess quality, delivery confidence and workforce stability. A strong response should show that your commitments are practical, evidenced and relevant to the contract. If you are preparing a Scottish public sector tender and need help with Fair Work First, AM Bid can support you with bid strategy, bid writing, tender management or review before submission. Speak to our team today.