“We welcome this ambitious range of workplace reforms. Work can and should be a force for good and these measures will give atypical workers, such as temporary staff and people on zero hours contracts, more rights while recognising the value of such ‘non-standard’ employment contracts to both workers and employers.
“We particularly welcome the extension of the right to a clear and comprehensive day-one written statement of rights to all workers and the move to bring forward plans to create a new single labour market enforcement body.
“We also strongly back the increased remit of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to ensure “quality of work” and the intention to create clear metrics to measure the quality of work in the UK labour market. The UK’s labour market is nearly at full employment, we need to ensure that those jobs are quality jobs, providing workers with the appropriate pay and protections as well as development opportunities so people can progress at work.
“It’s positive to see that the Government has recognised that the gig economy and zero hours contracts can provide the flexibility that many workers and organisations need. These alternative ways of working can, if managed appropriately, help people into work and continue to work in a way that fits their lifestyle. In the changing world of work, and in a post-Brexit environment, it’s essential that businesses can work in a way that is flexible to market demands and the changing needs of individuals.
“While the new reforms will go some way to improving employment rights for people on atypical working arrangements, simply changing regulation will not be a silver bullet for improving job quality more broadly. Businesses must also take responsibility for improving the quality of work by investing in how they manage and develop people, for example by boosting training, improving job design and creating more flexible working opportunities, to ensure that all workers have the opportunity to reach their potential at work. In addition, the Government must ensure its industrial strategy has an enhanced focus on improving job quality across the economy which sets out the actions it will take to nudge, encourage and support particularly smaller employers, to improve how they manage and develop people.”
