24th September, 2009
All the latest stories from the world of work
Gordon Brown addressed the TUC annual congress in Liverpool last week, announcing a series of spending commitments and policy promises to create jobs and extend rights for workers. The IPA Bulletin brings you a quick guide to Brown’s plans for the workplace.
Young People– official unemployment figures released over the last six months have made for grim reading, particularly for young people. The unemployment rate for 16-24s in the three months to July stood at 17.3 per cent, while the unemployment rate for all people of working age was 7.6 per cent. Brown announced plans to create an additional 21,000 apprenticeships in the public sector, and from 2013 to give all young people who are suitably qualified the right to an apprenticeship. He also renewed his commitment to the Future Jobs Fund, the scheme established earlier this year to create jobs for young people and the long term unemployed. In total Brown claimed the government was spending £5 billion on job creation.
Agency workers – the unions have campaigned long and hard to win the same employment rights for temporary and agency workers as for permanent employees. A political agreement was reached by European leaders in 2008, leaving member states to consult on possible domestic legilsation. The prime minister announced that legislation would be brought forward in this parliament, earlier than had been expected.
Parental leave – Brown reaffirmed Labour’s pledge to extend maternity leave from 9 to 12 months, but did not state when this change was due to come into effect. Responding to pleas from employers, the proposed extension of paternity leave, enabling fathers to three months paid leave in the second six months of the child’s life once the mother has gone back to work, has been postponed until April 2011.
Public sector jobs – The speech was billed as the first time Brown would admit that a Labour government would have to make cuts. Brown promised to “cut costs, cut inefficiencies, cut unnecessary programmes and cut lower priority budgets.” But at the same time the prime minister said he would protect jobs in frontline services.
Housing – the construction industry has been particularly hit by the recession as lending to new buyers ground to a halt. Brown announced 20,000 additional affordable homes to be built in the next two years, boosting housing supply and creating new jobs.
Civil service – the prime minister announced that he would abolish the Whitehall early exist scheme which allows civil servants to retire at 50 to save £500 million over 3 years.
UK employers may be forced to consult their workforce earlier when facing collective redundancies following a ruling from the European Court of Justice.
The case, referred by the Finnish High Court, develops the meaning of consultation under the European directive, which could have implications for the interpretation of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act (TULRA), the UK legislation which implements the directive.
The TULRA requires employers to begin a process of collective consultation when a proposal is put forward to make 20 or more employees redundant within a 90-day period. The ruling by the European Court of Justice, however, suggests that consultation should begin earlier, when redundancies are contemplated, rather than proposed.
This could mean that employers would need to consult their workforce at the point at which they were establishing the feasibility of redundancies, or how many redundancies might be required, and not just when a proposal had been presented.
Derek Luckhurst, training and development director at the IPA, said: “Regardless of the possible implications of the ECJ ruling, we would always encourage employers to consult their workforce as early as possible. Employers need to understand that every member of staff in any organisation watches carefully how people are treated during redundancy thinking ‘is that me next’. Consultation can make the difference between huge increases in cynicism levels amongst those who are left or an engaged workforce which is concentrating on business as usual”
