CBI Chair Soames accuses Ministers of Not Listening to Employment Rights Bill

Rupert Soames, CBI chairman and Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, debated the Employment Rights Bill at yesterday’s Acas conference.

Soames, in a session presided over by Marina Glasgow, Acas’ chief conciliator and mediator, accused the government for failing to listen to the concerns of businesses about the proposed changes, including curtailing the zero-hours contracts, conferring rights from the first day of employment, ending the fire and rehire policy, and providing more statutory sick leave.

The CBI chairman said that he recognized the democratic mandate of the Employment Rights Bill, but felt there was “no acceptation that someone like myself will not employ people when there is lots of risk attached.”

Soames said that zero-hours policies were not necessary because the bad employment practices of some employers would have harmed the lives of those workers who need full flexibility.

Nowak said that Spain has seen a decline in unemployment in recent years, from peaks of 15.4% in 2018 to lows of 7.4% in 2019.

Soames was referring to the labour reforms that took place in Spain at the end of 2021. These saw greater restrictions on the use temporary contracts, and more flexibility with permanent contracts. Researchers found that this has reduced temporary employment within the private sector. However, data shows that these increased restrictions on hiring temp workers have not hindered the creation of jobs.

Nowak said that “for the past two decades, we’ve tested to destruction the status quo of low pay and low rights.”

We need to level out the playing field, so that businesses who treat their employees well are not undercut.

Soames stated that the UK has become significantly poorer in comparison to other countries. “25 years ago, the UK’s income per capita was about the same as US. It’s now less than the most impoverished state in the US. Something has gone wrong. It’s far less than Germany. If our country is now massively poorer, we collectively have a problem.

Nowak saw this as proof that it was time to change the status quo, and that the Employment Rights Bill could help. The Office of Budget Responsibility had estimated that the Bill could cost businesses PS5bn. However, he said that this calculation did not take into account the benefits of these measures. They could include improved productivity, fewer sickness days, increased employee engagement, upskilling, and more training.

Soames, however, suggested that the Bill’s main impact would be an increase in the already heavy backlog of employment tribunal cases and a significant investment made to recruit judges.

Soames acknowledged that the national wage introduced in 1999 was a success, despite initial criticism from businesses. The government listened to the businesses and established the Low Pay Commission, which is independent of the ministers.

He said that a similar approach of conciliatory nature could ease the introduction to the Employment Rights Bill.

Nowak concluded: “Neither Rupert nor I would honestly believe that we could raise a family with a minimum wage and zero hours contract.

“Neither of us has to worry about being unable to pay our bills because we were unfairly fired or took a sick day.

“We don’t have to accept that millions of people in the workplace are paid less for their gender, race or disability. Why is that acceptable?”

Personnel Today has the latest HR job openings.

Browse Human Resources Jobs