The Social Recruitment Covenant

Hiring with purpose. Building a fairer workforce.

Organisations signing the Social Recruitment Covenant (SRC) are finding better candidates, retaining them longer, and strengthening their case for public sector contracts. 

Backed by the Department for Work and Pensions since launch at Westminster in November 2024, over 570 organisations have signed the SRC, including Asda, Tesco, IKEA, Lidl, Currys, G4S, Sodexo, Amey, M Group, Mitie, Manpower, NHS Employers and the RNIB.

Why employers are signing

Employers sign because inclusive recruitment works, and because they can show it.

Through PeoplePlus's Social Recruitment Framework, BT saw a 29% improvement in first-year retention and reduced attraction costs by £18,000 per cohort. Teleperformance found that workers recruited through this model had the lowest attrition rates of any provider on their contract.

These results are evidence of what happens when recruitment is opened up to people who are motivated, capable, and consistently overlooked by traditional hiring processes. 

Signing the Social Recruitment Covenant also supports your organisation's social value commitments.

For organisations tendering for central government contracts, the rules are changing. From 1 January 2027, Public Procurement Notice 026 (PPN026) requires central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies to score social value against two outcomes: good jobs, and skills. The minimum weighting is 10% on contracts worth £1m or more, rising to 20% at £5m and above. It sharpens the focus onto recruitment, fair pay, working conditions and skills development for people facing barriers to work. It narrows a broad social value model towards what the Covenant has asked of employers since it launched: open your recruitment to people who face disadvantage, and support them once they are in work. PPN002 continues to apply to procurements commenced before that date.

If you bid to local authorities, combined authorities or the devolved nations, PPN026 does not reach them. They set their own social value priorities, and the same practice serves both.

Signing the SRC is a commitment, not a score: what the new model assesses is what you deliver and can evidence. A public commitment is where that starts, and it comes with a defined set of practices to work to. The government's detailed scoring sub-criteria are due in autumn 2026. The government's detailed scoring sub-criteria are due in autumn 2026. PeoplePlus was named Supplier of the Year at this year's National GO Awards, the UK's public procurement awards judged by procurement practitioners, and we are tracking the guidance closely. Signatories and SRAG members will hear first what it means in practice, supporting the time it will take to build the evidence base PPN026 asks for. 

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What signing means

The SRC is a public statement of intent, not a legal contract. No audits, no fees, no mandatory reporting. In signing, your organisation commits to a simple belief:

"The economy can be stronger and more dynamic if society reduces the barriers to work faced by people from disadvantaged backgrounds."

Sign the Social Recruitment Covenant

Signing is free and non-binding, takes less than two minutes, and needs someone with authority to sign on behalf of your organisation. You will receive confirmation and a media pack with logos and shareable materials.

Anyone can write the promise. The Social Recruitment Covenant exists for the organisations that keep it.

A signature is a commitment, and commitments need structure behind them. PeoplePlus founded the Social Recruitment Covenant and holds that structure: practical support with attraction, recruitment, retention, training and partnership models that make inclusive hiring achievable in practice, not just in principle. Signatories can access the Social Recruitment Framework, a free managed recruitment service that has moved 14,000+ people into work since 2018, and many go on to join the Social Recruitment Advocacy Group, the coalition that campaigns for social recruitment across the UK.

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What happens after you sign

Signing connects you to a network of employers taking social recruitment seriously. Over 570 organisations have signed the Social Recruitment Covenant, and more organisations commit every working week. 

Many signatories go on to join the Social Recruitment Advocacy Group (SRAG), a membership movement of 200+ organisations, chaired by the Rt. Hon. Anne Milton, which collectively employs over 500,000 people across the UK. Through SRAG and the Social Recruitment Framework you can access practical tools, employer case studies, SRAG Charter Mark assessment and direct support to put inclusive hiring into practice. As the PPN026 guidance develops, this is also where you will find out how to evidence your work against it.

Charter Mark assessment is for SRAG members who want to see where their practice stands against a defined standard and evidence it. 

Signing the Social Recruitment Covenant is the part you can do today.

How would SRAG membership support us?

SRAG runs sessions for employers working through their approach to social recruitment. Tell us you are interested and we will let you know when the next one is.

Register your interest in the next SRAG session

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Frequently asked questions

What does signing actually commit us to? 

A public statement of intent, not a legal contract. No audits, no fees, no mandatory reporting. You are committing to a belief and signalling it publicly.

What is PPN026, and does it affect us? 

PPN026 is the government's new Social Value Model. It applies to procurements commenced on or after 1 January 2027 by central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, at £1m total contract value including VAT or above. Social value is scored against two outcomes, good jobs and skills, with a minimum weighting of 10% on contracts worth £1m or more and 20% at £5m and above. On contracts of £5m or more, at least one social value KPI is published and reported at least once every 12 months. PPN002 continues to apply to procurements commenced before that date, and PPN026 does not apply to local authorities, combined authorities or the devolved nations. Detailed scoring sub-criteria are due in autumn 2026, and PeoplePlus is tracking them so signatories and SRAG members can prepare.

We already have a D&I programme. Is this different? 

The Social Recruitment Covenant focuses specifically on employment barriers, the practical obstacles that stop capable people getting into work, and how those barriers combine. It complements existing D&I work rather than replacing it, and provides a recognised external framework to evidence your commitment.

Who else has signed? 

Over 570 organisations spanning retail, logistics, utilities, construction, healthcare, transport, staffing and the third sector, including Asda, Currys PLC, Tesco, IKEA, G4S, Sodexo, Mitie, Manpower, NHS Employers and the RNIB. 

Do we need to be a SRAG member to sign? 

No. Signing the Covenant is open to any UK employer. Many signatories go on to join SRAG, but it is not a requirement. The Covenant is the pledge; the Social Recruitment Advocacy Group is the coalition behind the movement. Many organisations do both. Find out more → Social Recruitment Advocacy Group (SRAG)

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Sign the Social Recruitment Covenant

A moment to sign. A public commitment that lasts.

The person signing should have the authority to publicly commit your organisation. Once we receive your details, we'll verify your application and send your media pack, including logos, graphics and copy to share your commitment publicly. 

Sign now, it takes less than two minutes →

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Not ready to sign yet? 

Let us know and we'll send you everything you need to share with your leadership team.