The importance of work to a person\u2019s wellbeing, meaningful careers, the future of work, employment rights and the robot tax were just some of the pressing issues highlighted at this week\u2019s Labour Party conference.<\/p>\n
One of the REC\u2019s big set pieces was our director of policy, Tom Hadley, speaking on modern working practices alongside the Shadow Business Secretary and trade union leaders at the New Statesman fringe event. There were plenty of areas of disagreement but also some common ground with opportunities to work together \u2013 including on the recognition of how important work is to people\u2019s lives and wellbeing.<\/p>\n
Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey talked up the need to be a \u2018progression nation,\u2019 which was a great hook for promoting the role of our industry in helping people get a job, then get a better job.<\/p>\n
For instance, in terms of common ground, progression is at the heart of our campaign to make the apprenticeship levy into a more flexible training levy that agencies can use for the workers on their books.<\/p>\n
Work, skills and the future of work were important themes throughout the week at fringe events and on the conference floor. TUC general secretary Frances O\u2019Grady argued for \u201ca regulatory framework that reflects the changing world of work”, which was the core driver of the Matthew Taylor review. We agree with the need for a level playing field and used this high-profile fringe session to underline the positive role of compliant agencies to the UK economy.<\/p>\n
Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, pledged in his conference speech to extend employment rights to all workers. At the REC we welcome moves that would provide more protections for gig workers and the self-employed \u2013 but it is wrong to group agency workers in the same category. Unlike for gig workers, and the self-employed, all agency workers are already entitled to holiday pay, statutory sick pay, maternity and paternity pay, and written terms and conditions. This highlights the need for the industry to continue to challenge these misconceptions and raise awareness of existing rights\u00a0and regulations.<\/p>\n
Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s attempt to deal with the challenges of automation, dubbed the \u2018robot tax\u2019, received plenty of interest. It is important for all political parties to think ahead as to what big changes to the world of work might mean for individuals and for society as a whole – this has been a big theme of our Future of Jobs commission. Focus must be on ensuring that we build the UK skills base so that individuals can benefit from the changes and can make career transitions when needed.<\/p>\n
At the business reception, Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell spoke about their desire to engage and work with businesses as they continue to develop their policies. We look forward to taking them up on this \u2013 it is important they hear the thoughts of industry to ensure their policies are based on reality and would work in practice.<\/p>\n
This blog was originally published on 29.09.2017 by Recruiter.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The importance of work to a person\u2019s wellbeing, meaningful careers, the future of work, employment rights and the robot tax were just some of the pressing issues highlighted at this week\u2019s Labour Party conference. One of the REC\u2019s big set pieces was our director of policy, Tom Hadley, speaking on modern working practices alongside the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n