More people management professionals believe that employment law hinders rather than helps their organisation achieve its aims, according to the CIPD''s Employment Law survey 2002. The majority of respondents (74%) believe that employment legislation is not clear enough while almost half believe that there is insufficient guidance. According to the survey, the working time directive is the most difficult piece of employment legislation to implement (28%). Recruiting and retaining is the most important challenge (28%).
Speaking alongside DTI Minister, Patricia Hewitt at the CIPD/JSB Employment Law conference Geoff Armstrong, the CIPD''s Director General said, We believe that Government departments should give more consideration to alternatives to state regulation to meet employment policy objectives. And to think about how we can reduce the pressures on business, without reducing minimum standards for employees. This may give a respite to people management specialists who report disillusionment in particular with the volume and clarity of laws across the field of employment.
Employment legislation is seen as the most important influence on people management policies (34%) in organisations and is consequently taking up an increasing amount of people management specialists'' time. The other key drivers include business strategy (23%), the HR function (20%) and market conditions (9%).
Armstrong continues, Like most employers, the CIPD is in favour of sensible employment protection and minimum standards. However too often regulations are boiler-plated so that a desired principle of protection is introduced in such a complex way, without proper consultation on the practicalities of applying it, that employers can''t understand them.
People management practitioners get bogged down in translating the regulations instead of focusing on their key challenge of bringing in and bringing on talent to raise the performance of the organisation. Managers get preoccupied with protecting against legitimate breeches at the expense of concentrating on competitiveness and productivity through better development and management of people.
A key question is whether each piece of legislation is a proportionate response to the issue being addressed. In addition, each new regulation should be looked at in relation to all the others that have preceded it. Coherent regulation that can be communicated simply, understood and applied has to be the aim.
Armstrong said that the CIPD had welcomed some employment legislation, such as the Employment Bill. But he argued that the primary aim must be to maintain the UK''s competitiveness and that a more sensible joined-up approach was needed.
Survey shows employment law is burdensome and unclear
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