[UK] Omission of Employment Bill from Queen’s Speech criticised by recruitment industry

The absence of an Employment Bill from the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday has led to criticism from the UK recruitment industry, SIA reports.

The Bill was set to include measures to improve workers’ rights.

The Queen’s Speech, delivered by Prince Charles, introduced bills focused on digital and media, including a Data Reform Bill which will replace EU rules on data protection. It also included a ‘Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill’ to help drive local growth as well as education bills and bills focused on finance and regulation, Brexit bills and energy bills.

The Speech also stated that the UK Government’s priority is to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families.

There was no mention of an Employment Bill in the Speech nor any mention of umbrella companies.

Neil Carberry - Chief Executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation - said, “It is incredibly disappointing that the government has chosen to kick the Employment Bill into the long grass again. It was due to contain measures to improve enforcement in the labour market and regulate umbrella companies, helping to protect workers from exploitation and compliant businesses from being undercut. It is now two and a half years since the Employment Bill was first promised, and five years since the Taylor review into modern working practices – the government must prove its commitment to this issue and bring forward this bill as soon as possible.”

The REC and the Trades Union Congress have written a letter calling on the government to include an Employment Bill in its Queen’s Speech.

According to the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, the absence of such a bill from the Speech suggests that the skills agenda is slipping down the government’s priority list.

Tania Bowers - Global Public Policy Director at APSCo - said, “The Employment Bill has already been delayed and it is disappointing that it was missing from the Queen’s Speech despite multiple calls for its inclusion in recent weeks. The UK’s employment market is not fit for purpose in the current economic landscape and APSCo has warned that this long-awaited Bill needs to be pushed forward swiftly if the country is to recover from the impact of the pandemic and Brexit.

“While it was made clear in the speech that the government’s priority is to strengthen the economy, the absence of the Employment Bill and no clarity around the Single Enforcement Body will be a limitation on achieving this.”

“It's clear that the future of the labour market needs to be flexible, dynamic and fair, but current legislation is not designed to support this,” Ms Bowers said. “The self-employed have a crucial role to play in the skills short environment that we are experiencing and in order to ensure these individuals are adequately supported and able to operate in a flexible manner without being penalised is important.”

“Self-employed status needs to be defined in legislation that differentiates highly-skilled self-employed independent professionals from dependent contractors, workers, other variants of self-employment and the lower skilled, less independent elements of the gig economy,” she continued.

“Regulation of the umbrella market is also needed if the UK’s economy is to be strengthened. Government must futureproof employment legislation and consider steps such as Single Enforcement Body licensing of the “umbrella” market, the mandatory use of client accounts and the introduction of statutory compliance codes.”

Trades Union Congress General Secretary Frances O’Grady said, “Without new legislation, workers will be denied a host of vital rights and protections ministers had promised to deliver. These include fair notice for shifts and payment for cancelled shifts, flexible working rights and protection from pregnancy discrimination plus many more.”

The CEO of the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association Chris Bryce said, "We were anticipating an employment bill to be included within the Queen’s speech, which could have delivered greater regulation and protection for contingency workers. It’s a missed opportunity from the government that they didn’t heed the industry’s call to introduce much-needed regulation for the umbrella sector.”

"We absolutely support the introduction of effective regulation in the professional employment services sector, as we believe it will further strengthen standards in the industry, ensuring businesses comply with the spirit and letter of the law and thus better protect workers,” Mr Bryce continued. “We believe many aspects of employment law need to be urgently addressed – so, despite the disappointing news, it’s a goal we’ll continue to work towards in the absence of wider regulation.”

Mr Bryce added that he believes an outright ban on the umbrella sector would simply see unscrupulous operators exploit other employment loopholes and is in favour of regulation but calls on it to be well-funded and policed.

Dave Chaplin - CEO of compliance firm IR35 Shield - said, “Whilst it is disappointing that the Employment Bill will not be making its way through Parliament in the next two years, this does not prevent the authorities from cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion that enters the supply chain via agencies working with disreputable umbrella companies. HMRC already garners the data it needs, and just needs to act on it quickly.”

“Unfortunately, despite many experts providing compelling evidence to HMRC when they see wrong-doing, actions by HMRC are slow, which ends up with HMRC chasing the victims for the money, and not the scheme providers,” Chaplin added.

Crawford Temple - CEO of Professional Passport - said, “We are currently waiting to hear the findings from the Government’s Call for Evidence into the Umbrella Industry and Margaret Beels, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement has also initiated a consultation that closes on May 31st calling for evidence on emerging issues around compliance and enforcement in the UK labour market which will help inform her labour market enforcement strategy for 2023/24. I anticipate that the findings from both those reports will then serve to inform the priorities of the Single Enforcement Body.”

Source: SIA

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

The absence of an Employment Bill from the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday has led to criticism from the UK recruitment industry, SIA reports.

The Bill was set to include measures to improve workers’ rights.

The Queen’s Speech, delivered by Prince Charles, introduced bills focused on digital and media, including a Data Reform Bill which will replace EU rules on data protection. It also included a ‘Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill’ to help drive local growth as well as education bills and bills focused on finance and regulation, Brexit bills and energy bills.

The Speech also stated that the UK Government’s priority is to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families.

There was no mention of an Employment Bill in the Speech nor any mention of umbrella companies.

Neil Carberry - Chief Executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation - said, “It is incredibly disappointing that the government has chosen to kick the Employment Bill into the long grass again. It was due to contain measures to improve enforcement in the labour market and regulate umbrella companies, helping to protect workers from exploitation and compliant businesses from being undercut. It is now two and a half years since the Employment Bill was first promised, and five years since the Taylor review into modern working practices – the government must prove its commitment to this issue and bring forward this bill as soon as possible.”

The REC and the Trades Union Congress have written a letter calling on the government to include an Employment Bill in its Queen’s Speech.

According to the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, the absence of such a bill from the Speech suggests that the skills agenda is slipping down the government’s priority list.

Tania Bowers - Global Public Policy Director at APSCo - said, “The Employment Bill has already been delayed and it is disappointing that it was missing from the Queen’s Speech despite multiple calls for its inclusion in recent weeks. The UK’s employment market is not fit for purpose in the current economic landscape and APSCo has warned that this long-awaited Bill needs to be pushed forward swiftly if the country is to recover from the impact of the pandemic and Brexit.

“While it was made clear in the speech that the government’s priority is to strengthen the economy, the absence of the Employment Bill and no clarity around the Single Enforcement Body will be a limitation on achieving this.”

“It's clear that the future of the labour market needs to be flexible, dynamic and fair, but current legislation is not designed to support this,” Ms Bowers said. “The self-employed have a crucial role to play in the skills short environment that we are experiencing and in order to ensure these individuals are adequately supported and able to operate in a flexible manner without being penalised is important.”

“Self-employed status needs to be defined in legislation that differentiates highly-skilled self-employed independent professionals from dependent contractors, workers, other variants of self-employment and the lower skilled, less independent elements of the gig economy,” she continued.

“Regulation of the umbrella market is also needed if the UK’s economy is to be strengthened. Government must futureproof employment legislation and consider steps such as Single Enforcement Body licensing of the “umbrella” market, the mandatory use of client accounts and the introduction of statutory compliance codes.”

Trades Union Congress General Secretary Frances O’Grady said, “Without new legislation, workers will be denied a host of vital rights and protections ministers had promised to deliver. These include fair notice for shifts and payment for cancelled shifts, flexible working rights and protection from pregnancy discrimination plus many more.”

The CEO of the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association Chris Bryce said, "We were anticipating an employment bill to be included within the Queen’s speech, which could have delivered greater regulation and protection for contingency workers. It’s a missed opportunity from the government that they didn’t heed the industry’s call to introduce much-needed regulation for the umbrella sector.”

"We absolutely support the introduction of effective regulation in the professional employment services sector, as we believe it will further strengthen standards in the industry, ensuring businesses comply with the spirit and letter of the law and thus better protect workers,” Mr Bryce continued. “We believe many aspects of employment law need to be urgently addressed – so, despite the disappointing news, it’s a goal we’ll continue to work towards in the absence of wider regulation.”

Mr Bryce added that he believes an outright ban on the umbrella sector would simply see unscrupulous operators exploit other employment loopholes and is in favour of regulation but calls on it to be well-funded and policed.

Dave Chaplin - CEO of compliance firm IR35 Shield - said, “Whilst it is disappointing that the Employment Bill will not be making its way through Parliament in the next two years, this does not prevent the authorities from cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion that enters the supply chain via agencies working with disreputable umbrella companies. HMRC already garners the data it needs, and just needs to act on it quickly.”

“Unfortunately, despite many experts providing compelling evidence to HMRC when they see wrong-doing, actions by HMRC are slow, which ends up with HMRC chasing the victims for the money, and not the scheme providers,” Chaplin added.

Crawford Temple - CEO of Professional Passport - said, “We are currently waiting to hear the findings from the Government’s Call for Evidence into the Umbrella Industry and Margaret Beels, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement has also initiated a consultation that closes on May 31st calling for evidence on emerging issues around compliance and enforcement in the UK labour market which will help inform her labour market enforcement strategy for 2023/24. I anticipate that the findings from both those reports will then serve to inform the priorities of the Single Enforcement Body.”

Source: SIA

(Link and quotes via original reporting)