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Lord Mark Price, the former Waitrose managing director and founder of workplace platform WorkL, has unveiled The Work Happiness Charter – a manifesto calling on employers and employees alike to put happiness at the heart of working life.
The charter sets out what it means to be happy at work and states that happiness should be recognised as a fundamental workplace right, as essential to wellbeing and productivity as health and safety or human rights legislation.
According to Price, the UK’s approach to work is “at a crossroads”. Citing his 40 years of experience at the John Lewis Partnership an organisation founded on the principle that business exists for the happiness of its employees – he argues that modern work culture has lost sight of that core purpose. He writes:
“Happy, engaged employees equal happy, satisfied customers. Our goal should never be profits at the expense of people. When you put happiness first, profits follow naturally”
Half of UK workers unhappy in their jobs
The charter comes amid growing concern about workplace dissatisfaction. WorkL’s own data, collected through its Happy at Work test, taken by millions of employees worldwide, shows that more than half of workers score below 70 per cent for happiness, classifying them as unhappy at work.
Price calls this “a national wellbeing emergency”, warning that unhappiness at work damages not only individual health but also productivity and economic performance.He writes:
“An unhappy workforce is bad for the individual, the organisation, and the country. Happiness is not a soft or vague concept – it is measurable, actionable and essential to growth”
The Work Happiness Charter sets out a series of 10 rights that Price believes every worker should have, including the right to fair pay, recognition, safety, respect, training, information and support. It also outlines the responsibilities employees hold in return, such as giving their best effort, developing their skills, acting with honesty and upholding the law.
Price likens the charter to a modern “Magna Carta for work” – a declaration of mutual rights and responsibilities that defines what good work should mean in the 21st century.
Price is calling on individuals, businesses and government agencies to sign the charter and commit to its principles. The aim, he says, is to trigger “the biggest reformation of working practices since the 19th century” — reshaping workplaces to be more inclusive, respectful and positive.
As Price concludes:
“We spend a third of our lives at work. Let’s make those years not just bearable – but better, fairer and happier for all.”
The Work Happiness Charter is available now at workl.com, where both individuals and employers can sign up to join the movement.
