The announcement by the government today, which claims it is leveraging post-Brexit freedoms to remove unnecessary red tape and regulatory burdens that could save employers more than £1bn, was slammed by the UK’s leading union, Unite.
The government says the announcement is part of its priority to grow the economy and is a boost to the UK’s ambition to have one of the most innovative and flexible regulatory regimes in the world.
Today’s package includes:
- Reduce workload. We will reduce disproportionately time consuming reporting requirements for specific elements of the working time regulations, while retaining the 48 hour week requirement and upholding our leading global staffing standards. This could save employers around £1 billion a year. We also simplify the regulations that apply when a business passes to a new owner.
- Ensuring regulation is, by default, the government’s last response rather than the first by reforming the framework for better regulation. The new, smarter framework will ensure that future regulation of our changing economy is streamlined, reduces business burdens, and puts forward-looking regulation at the heart of government decisions.
- Improving regulators’ focus on economic growth by ensuring that regulatory action is taken only when it is needed, and that any action taken is proportionate. Following Professor Dame Angela MacLean’s review of the growth duty to regulators, the Government intends to consult on updated guidance on how regulators should carry out their growth duties. The government will also consider the merits of initiating statutory reporting and how best to foster growth with utility regulators, who do not currently fall within the scope of the growth duty.
- Boost workplace competition and productivity by limiting the duration of non-compete clauses to three months, and provide more flexibility for up to 5 million UK workers to join a competitor or start a competing business after they leave the job. The change will also provide a boost to the wider UK economy, supporting employers to grow their businesses and increase productivity by expanding the talent pool and improving the quality of candidates they can hire.
- Spur innovation, investment and growth by announcing two strategic policy statements to guide our regulators. Today we publish the first of these statements for an energy policy consultation, which will shortly be followed by the Government’s strategic direction to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Over the past few decades, we have witnessed the accumulation of organization in every aspect of our lives. Companies faced hundreds of new rules, which cost time and money to read and comply with thousands of pages of regulations.
These rules make it more expensive and difficult for startups to enter the market or expand and grow. They have reduced competition, raised prices and reduced innovation, leaving consumers worse off and British businesses less competitive in global markets.
The Minister for Business and Trade, Kemi Badnoush, said: I have listened to the concerns of businesses of all sizes and have made it my priority to address the red tape that holds British companies back, reduces their competitiveness in global markets and stunts their growth.
We’re taking back control of our laws post-Brexit, reducing and improving regulation and giving businesses the freedom to do what they do best – sell innovative products, create jobs, and grow the economy.
For years and under all governments, well-meaning ministers have come up with new regulations in response to the issues, said Tina McKenzie, head of policy at the Federation for Small Business (FSB). This is then repeated in the next set of ministers – leaving us with a significant cumulative burden for the business to deal with.
We are pleased to see a change in approach here, a move away from regulation as a first resort, along with less administrative requirements that divert time away from running a business, and more focus for regulators on stimulating economic growth.”
However, the UK’s leading union Unite criticized the ad as “a push for bad bosses”.
Under its plans, employers will not be required to keep records to ensure that the 48-hour working time limit is adhered to, and that limits on the number of hours workers can work at night are being followed.
Eliminating the requirement for employers to record night work is particularly worrisome because working long shifts into the night is linked to an increased risk of cancer and diabetes.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “The government’s so-called attack on red tape is nothing more than a reinforcement of bad bosses and will only add to the misery of workers.
“Removing the requirement for employers to record working hours, means the regulations become virtually unenforceable.
“Unscrupulous employers will use these weak regulations to exploit young or disorganized workers. Cut red tape? More like a rulebook for profiteering.”