The government’s Good Work Plan runs to 68 pages, takes forward 51 policy recommendations and for any industry with a large workforce will mean significant change which creates costs and risk.
At the heart of the Plan is an ambition to put quality work on a par with quantity of work. Well intentioned policy recommendations, designed to rebalance the employer-employee relationship, are difficult to disagree with in principle. But in practice, some of these recommendations will have broad consequences for those employers already striving to deliver quality work that suits colleagues’ needs.
Extending workplace rights is not the traditional space for a Conservative government to act. But given the PM set out her stall to tackle the burning injustices across the economy in 2017, it is perhaps no surprise that the package of measures stacks up to be a relatively comprehensive set of new rules and responsibilities for employers.
Although some of the measures have a long lead, the new regulations do not take force until April 2020, the issues are complex and have the potential to be costly. Earlier this month the British Retail Consortium brought our employment and tax specialists together with 20 leading retailers to unpick the detail of the Good Work Plan looking at what it will mean for the industry, and how they can get their businesses ready. We highlighted a number of key changes that retailers will have to get to grips with.
So, what’s changing and what should retailers start thinking about now?
