16 October 2013

By Roger Jeary

Those who thought the announcement by Tory Chairman Grant Shapps at their conference earlier this month was the definitive statement on future attacks on workers' rights hadn't bargained for the Business Taskforce report "Cutting Red Tape".

Published this week, the report sets out a further string of workers' rights and health and safety protections that need to be removed, according to their consultation with business. (By business, of course, we only mean one side of business – that is the employer).

Removal or diminution of rights affecting agency workers; working time; maternity pay; posted workers; information and consultation; and workers transferred under TUPE are all set out in this report (which, unsurprisingly, has been welcomed by the Prime Minister). Add to this the removal of the requirement for small businesses to keep written health and safety risk assessments and you can see the direction of travel.

All of this is proposed in the name of business competitiveness and is particularly concerned with excluding micro businesses (those with fewer than ten employees) from any new employment legislation. It is this legislation that is preventing small businesses from employing additional workers, we are told by the taskforce. I would love to see the evidence upon which this report bases its findings. Evidence-based reports that have actually considered the impact of employment law on small businesses have found that whilst small businesses will always say that they are worried about the impact of employment legislation, when questioned more deeply about their knowledge of the law they are invariably found wanting. In other words, their fear and perception has little to do with reality.

This report, and the Prime Minister's endorsement of it, demonstrates yet again that the race to the bottom is being led by the Coalition Government in the UK whilst placing the blame for lack of competitiveness upon the EU. Some of the UK's most vulnerable workers would be hit by these proposals – posted workers, women, workers faced with a change of ownership and workers who suffer accidents at work are all affected in a detrimental manner. And what is the benefit? Increased profits, increased dividends and the freedom for employers to exploit at will. Surely we shall hear a rebuttal of all of this from the Labour shadow spokespeople for business and a promise of better things to come from a change of government for workers in the UK?