Purpose This article provides an evaluative benchmarking analysis of fair work in the hospitality sector between Scotland and selected Nordic, European and Australasian countries using the same set of fair work indicators. The paper discusses how fair work is realised and constrained within hospitality and evaluates the position of the Scottish hospitality sector within a broader international hospitality context. Design/methodology/approach The article draws on secondary data from national surveys completed under the umbrella of the Global Hospitality Research Alliance by research teams in Scotland, Norway, Greece, New Zealand and Australia. The article employs the benchmarking methodology developed by the Fairwork project (Fredman et al., 2020, 2025; Heeks et al., 2021) to evaluate fair work across the five country contexts. Findings The data show that Scotland scores in the lower range on the fair work scoring system as developed in this paper – slightly below Australia but above Greece – while Norway and New Zealand score notably higher. Although some countries perform better on certain fair work indicators, issues related to achieving fair hospitality work overall are evident across all five contexts. Originality/value This article suggests that achieving fair hospitality work requires a sector-specific approach. In this paper, we highlight issues for the consideration of policymakers and practitioners alike to improve working lives in the hospitality sector. We conclude that a hospitality-specific fair work agenda is needed and call on stakeholders to revisit the recommendations of the Scottish Fair Work Convention's (2024) hospitality report while acting on their commitments, particularly in view of the newly introduced UK Employment Rights Bill.
Hadjisolomou et al. (2026) studied this question.