The trade union Prospect recently teamed up with the CIPD (the professional body for HR and people development) to publish a paper recommending steps for a new government to take to improve workplaces in a way that supports economic growth.
The “Strong partnerships, good jobs, productive workplaces” discussion paper (the Paper) identifies improving labour market participation, innovation adoption and productivity across the economy as the central challenges currently faced by employers in all sectors. The Paper calls for a new public policy to have an emphasis on improving the quality of workplaces and jobs, and strengthening relationships at all levels of an organisation. In doing so, it explores the importance of good work and good workplaces, and how collaboration is essential to making good work the norm.
To strengthen relationships, the Paper suggests the focus should be on meaningful employee engagement, productive dialogue and shared understanding between workers and employers. These elements are key to organisations innovating and adapting to challenges. This means raising awareness of employment rights, increasing workforce engagement, and extending trade union membership and recognition.
The Paper also recommends establishing a Workplace Commission aimed at strengthening the social partnership between workers and employers. The Commission would operate at a national level and co-ordinate policymaking on workplace issues across government departments and other agencies. Such a Commission, the authors hope, would bring together key labour market “social partner” institutions including Acas, the Low Pay Commission, employer representative organisations, a range of trade unions and workforce representatives, and other independent expert bodies to provide expert policy advice. Through this, it could encourage and co-develop new employment regulations and policy at an early stage.
The Paper also discussed the enforcement of any new regulations, recommending a single enforcement body be created with an emphasis on supporting employer compliance. Such an enforcement system, it is suggested, could be achieved by increasing Acas’s capacity, incentivising smaller firms to allow Acas to conduct a free annual HR “MOT” of their employment practices and having tribunals make wider recommendations around employers improving people management practices.
It is envisaged that the single enforcement body would have a central role in supporting the effectiveness of the employment tribunal system, ensuring employers pay compensation and issuing improvement notices as a first step in certain circumstances. The new government has committed to implementing its Plan to Make Work Pay, which includes plans to establish a new single enforcement body to be called the Fair Work Agency amongst a number of other employment law reforms. See our Insight (available here [add link once available]) for more details.
CIPD and Prospect will press for the new government to implement the proposals in their paper for strong partnership, good jobs and productive workplaces.
