Employment Rights Bill passes: trade body responds

Responding to the news that the Employment Rights Bill has been passed by the Lords and will shortly be given Royal Assent, Tania Bowers, Global Public Policy Director at APSCo comments:



“While this news was inevitable, there are still elements that are yet to be clarified in regulation and APSCo hopes that the Government will appropriately engage with industry experts during the upcoming consultation periods. This marks the biggest single change to employment regulation in decades, and it is absolutely critical that the voices of the recruitment sector are heard.



“Our concerns continue to be based on the guaranteed hour provisions, with phrasing including “low hours contract”, “irregular hours” and “inherently temporary” yet to be defined. They need to be defined appropriately to prevent exploitation of “at risk” workers, rather than a blanket approach, leading to the curtailment of flexible contracting. We have already advised Government that the “reference period” prior to an offer of guaranteed hours should be set at 12 months for Agency Workers, as they already have the protection of regulation and worker status. The regulations filling in the gaps on cancellation periods and compensation also need to be pragmatic and relevant to the day-to-day challenges of sourcing workers in hospitality, logistics, healthcare and education.



“APSCo and its members remain concerned that undue rigidity of the regulations and application of the Act will negatively impact the flexible labour market and, in tun, economic growth. This simple cannot happen.



“Some changes will come into effect as soon as the Bill becomes law and APSCo is already working closely with its members to help them navigate the initial changes. These include sections easing the path for unions to take industrial action and strengthening protection for workers against dismissal for striking. We will also ensure that our members have a representative at the table for the consultation periods.”







Press contact

Vickie Collinge

vickie@bluesky-pr.com

01582 790 705



About APSCo UK



The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) is the trade association for the professional recruitment market. APSCo Global comprises APSCo South East Asia, APSCo Australia, APSCo Deutschland and APSCo United Kingdom as well as APSCo OutSource, the trade body for the RPO and MSP sectors.



Find out more: www.apscouk.org