0:00
business Secretary Johnny Reynolds was
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so fed up with people criticizing him
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for never having run a business that he
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went and bought himself a whopping great
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steel mill in Scumthorp now firmly a
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member of the boss class will he have
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sympathy with the business chiefs who
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this week begged the government to rip
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up their looming employment rights bill
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welcome back to the week in business
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with me Christian May
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ministers insist that their reforms to
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employment law will be good for business
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good for workers and good for the
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economy actual employers on the other
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hand warn that the measures largely
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written by trade unions will be deeply
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damaging to economic growth and will
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worsen living standards in the UK will
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worsen living standards we've been
0:43
critical of large parts of the
0:45
employment rights bill ever since it
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first reared its head and we certainly
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haven't been alone in that employment
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lawyers small business owners large
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employers basically anyone who knows
0:54
what they're talking about uh have
0:56
warned that however well-intentioned
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Labour's reforms are the consequences
1:00
will not be a workers's paradise but a
1:02
private sector entangled in mountains of
1:04
red tape facing legal challenges at
1:06
every turn and deterred from creating
1:09
jobs now last night City AM got hold of
1:12
a highly unusual letter that has today
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been sent to every member of the House
1:16
of Lords signed by the CBI the Institute
1:19
of Directors the Federation of Small
1:20
Business the British Chambers of
1:22
Commerce and Make UK the Manufacturers
1:25
Association the letter is in effect
1:26
signed by tens of thousands of employers
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across the full spectrum of business
1:30
sizes locations and sectors in other
1:33
words it carries some serious weight and
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this isn't just special pleading for an
1:37
easier ride the letter is surgical in
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its critique of the proposed changes to
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employment law and very constructive
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when it comes to how changes should be
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made that support the aims of the bill
1:47
without the devastating consequences
1:49
many businesses now fear as the authors
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note for us the challenge has never been
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what the government wants to achieve but
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the unintended consequences of how they
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implement it as the bill works its way
2:00
through the House of Lords businesses
2:02
are urging Parliament to make specific
2:04
changes for example they warned that the
2:07
policy of protecting employees from
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unfair dismissal from day one of a new
2:11
job will make businesses more cautious
2:14
about creating new jobs uh when taking
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the risk of trying to grow because
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dismissals from day one will count as
2:20
redundancies and could therefore trigger
2:22
collective consultation requirements
2:25
furthermore the proposal to enshrine in
2:27
law a legal right for workers to be
2:29
offered a guaranteed hours contract
2:31
instead of a flexible or a zero hours
2:33
contract will cause havoc among
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employers whose demand for staff is
2:37
seasonal or unpredictable and it will
2:39
penalize the very people for whom
2:40
flexible or periodic work is essential
2:44
as the letter says this change provides
2:46
no clear benefit to workers and the
2:48
business groups suggest the reasonable
2:50
alternative that people should have the
2:52
right to request a contract of
2:53
guaranteed hours the letter goes on to
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set out very specific concerns about
2:58
changes to the power of trade unions
3:00
changes to statutory sick pay and
3:01
changes to the rules around dismissal of
3:04
employees and changes to contracts or
3:06
terms of employment the authors conclude
3:08
that unless the employment rights bill
3:10
is amended to take into account the
3:12
perspectives of employers then it will
3:14
have a deeply damaging impact on the
3:16
government's growth missions and will
3:18
simply stifle innovation and
3:20
productivity in short Labor MPs uh and
3:23
highly paid trade union officials can
3:25
sit back and think it's a job well done
3:27
that they've put a stopper over the
3:28
capers of those dastardly capitalists
3:31
the people who will suffer from this
3:32
bill are those who do not get a job uh
3:34
who do not get a foot on the employment
3:36
ladder who do not move from welfare into
3:39
work because the new laws make it harder
3:40
more complicated and more risky to take
3:42
on new staff and so while Jonathan
3:45
Reynolds currently poses as the savior
3:47
of British steel and the thousands of
3:49
jobs supported by that industry the
3:51
government's commitment to pushing
3:52
through their employment rights bill
3:54
demonstrates that ministers still
3:55
haven't got a clue about the realities
3:58
of the private sector and the
3:59
combination of risk investment time
4:02
money and uncertainty that goes into the
4:04
creation of every single private sector
4:07
job and of course the real madness here
4:09
is that having increased taxes on
4:11
employment having increased the cost of
4:12
employment and now having insisted on
4:15
these confidence crushing and job
4:17
destroying reforms to employment law
4:19
ministers say they're on a mission to
4:21
get people back into work off welfare
4:23
and into jobs which jobs in bars shops
4:27
and restaurants forget it they can't
4:28
afford it now on a flexible basis to
4:30
gain skills and confidence not under
4:32
these reforms even the most
4:34
public-spirited and benevolent employer
4:36
will think twice about giving someone a
4:38
chance because the government has made
4:40
it illogical and very high risk to do so
4:43
at this time of maximum economic
4:46
uncertainty the government's number one
4:48
mission should be on supporting
4:49
businesses and supporting job creation
4:52
what could matter more instead they've
4:54
made life for employers harder riskier
4:57
more expensive and more
4:59
complicated slow clap well that's it
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from me this week stay up tod date and
5:04
in the know with the city app and on
5:06
cityam.com and I will see you here next
