Speaker: Neil Carberry, Chief Executive, Recruitment & Employment Confederation
Neil Carberry: Hi there, It's Neil from the REC here. I'm literally just back from a really exciting meeting where I was one of five or six business organisations representatives with the other big business organisations, the CBI, the Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Business. In a room with some of the trade unions, the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner and the Secretary of State for Business, Jonathan Reynolds discussing the new government's plan for labour market regulation, really great opportunity. They've come to power with a big agenda. But we know that the practical implementation of that kind of agenda can be really difficult and we need to make sure that we protect the ability of the economy to grow, the willingness of employers to create jobs and that flexibility for contractors, self-employed workers and agency workers not just good for the economy, but actually what workers want. The way we work today is so different to what's gone before. So a fantastic opportunity today to get the REC's point across about some of the unintended consequences of some of these policies and if we get them wrong. Thinking about day one rights, thinking about how we regulate zero hours contracts and thinking about really practical steps where working with business is going to be incredibly important. You know, if you look back at some of the biggest changes to our labour market over the last 20 or 30 years, the things that have stuck, the things that make a real difference are the ones where business was in the room when they were designed. That's what we're encouraging the government to do now. Use today's meeting with the REC for our sector and four or five other big business organisations with the trade unions. There's an opportunity to start a new discussion about doing things with business because fundamentally, the government was clear at the start of the meeting, they're all about economic growth, we're all about economic growth. We know people should be treated the right way in work. We don't think those two things are mutually exclusive, but we have to get that Make Work Pay Plan right. It needs not to feel like it's done to business, it needs to not feel like it's stopping activity, it needs not to feel that it's going to put costs on business that are unsupportable and will hold back growth. The best way to deal with those kind of challenges is to get round the table and design it together. Good start today. That's all it is. It's a start, but fantastic opportunity for the REC to talk to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Business about this. Now, the big test is what happens if we rush into it, we could get it wrong. I'm hopeful that the discussions today will move us in the right direction. Let's see.
