Employment Legislation

Background

Employment regulations affect both the productivity and competitiveness of a business causing problems from administrative burdens to increased labour costs.

Employment legislation affects businesses from all sectors and has an even greater impact on medium, small and micro businesses who due to their limited administrative resources and their economic vulnerability are overstretched by the additional employment regulations.

BCI Position

The Government develops employment legislation on both a national and European level and BCI continues to monitor all legislative developments around employment law and responds to numerous Government consultations through out the year to ensure business voice is heard where it matters.

BCI has identified the following as its five major employment policy priorities:

1. National Minimum Wage (NMW): BCI believes the NMW should be weighted to inflation and average wages growth. BCI is concerned the annual NMW rise is economically unsustainable as it continues to rise above the rate of inflation and average earnings growth.

2. The Equalities Bill: The Equalities Bill will replace the 116 different pieces of equality legislation in force, including 35 acts, 52 statutory instruments, 13 codes of practice and 16 European Commission directives. BCI will be working with members in 2009 to determine our response to the proposed legislation.

3. Flexible Working: The Walsh Review recommended to Government that the right to request flexible working should be extended to those with parental responsibility for children up to the age of 16 and that this extension should be implemented without phasing. BCI believes that these changes are unnecessary and formalise a process that is already occurring within businesses.

4. Working Time Directive: BCI believes that the availability of an opt-out from the 48-hour maximum working week is beneficial to both employers and employees. Business needs a flexible economic environment to maximise productivity and profitability. A central ingredient to this environment is a flexible labour market. BCI will continue to monitor developments.

5. Temporary Agency Workers Directive: The UK government will implement this Directive so it entitles an agency worker to equal treatment (at least the basic working and employment conditions that would apply to the worker concerned if they had been recruited directly to occupy the same job) after 12 weeks in a given job. BCI was disappointed at this development but continue to monitor progress and input where appropriate.

Kiran Virk is your Policy Manager for Employment Legislation. If you have an issue on this subject you would like to discuss, call 0121 607 1781 or email k.virk@birminghamchamber.org.uk.