The draft manifesto that was leaked to a number of media organisations, including the BBC and the Daily Telegraph, outlines a number of policies that would have significant implications for recruitment and the labour market were they to be implemented.

Among the policies are:

• A ban on zero-hours contracts
• Unpaid internships to be banned
• Greater rights for trade unions
• A maximum ratio of 20:1 between the highest and lowest paid workers in order to win government contracts
• Equal rights for workers regardless of their status giving the same protection to temporary and part-time workers as full-time workers
• Tax increases for the top 5% of earners
• Double pay maternity leave for the first month

Gethin Roberts, managing director of driver agency Drivers Direct, told Recruiter the Labour Party “had to be careful that it is not seen as hostile to business. Entrepreneurs create a lot of wealth and jobs for the country, which in turn generate taxes, which pay for the NHS, the roads and teachers”.

“A balance needed to be struck,” Roberts continued, and Labour “needed to be careful that it didn’t tip the balance so that entrepreneurs decided it was no longer worthwhile being an entrepreneur”.

Instead of talking about “rogue recruitment agencies”, Roberts said, “it would be nice sometimes for the Labour Party to recognise that recruitment agencies have a important role and that there are some good recruitment agencies out there”.

Andy Hogarth, CEO at blue collar recruiter Staffline, told Recruiter that while the implementation of some zero-hours contracts wasn’t right, “it would be counter-productive to ban them because an awful lot of people were on them”.

However, he was broadly supportive of the policy of only granting government contracts to companies where the ratio of the highest to the lowest paid was less than 20 to 1, telling Recruiter, “it seems reasonable to me”. Taking an average salary of £25k a year, which equates to the highest salary of £500k, he commented: “You have to be pretty good to justify that.” Hogarth said he didn’t think this should be written into law but “the principle of some sort of equitable treatment seems reasonable”.

In a statement issued to Recruiter, Samantha Hurley, director of operations at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), said: “A proposed end to zero-hours contracts, and limiting the award of public contracts in particular, are very concerning. These policies fail to take into account the fact that competitiveness and flexibility in the labour market are key to Britain’s economic strength.

“A well-regulated flexible workforce enables organisations to implement change, manage fluctuations in demand, and bring on board niche skill-sets that they would be hard pushed to secure on a permanent basis in order to thrive.

“What’s more, findings suggest that productivity is particularly high among independent professionals. Post-Brexit, UK plc is going to need to be more competitive than ever before, and the Labour policies are not going to deliver this. Labour’s proposed policies are quite simply bad for business.”

Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), told Recruiter in a statement: “The draft manifesto draws attention to areas in our society that many would agree require attention and investment, and investment leading to new jobs and better rates of pay is to be welcomed.

“We look forward to seeing the detail on areas such as the proposal to abolish zero-hours contracts, but we see the idea of a minimum guaranteed number of hours as problematic. It is not at all clear what kind of regular contract a worker would be entitled to after 12 weeks’ work of regular hours as is proposed.

“The idea that all workers should have the same rights from day one is an entirely new innovation and we question whether it would work for our economy in practice. However, we welcome the manifesto commitment to modernise employment status and related law, an exercise which we have long argued is overdue, so long as it correctly reflects flexibility within the labour force and is beneficial for our economy, our businesses and our society.”

• What do you think about Labour’s Manifesto and how it relates to the recruitment industry? Want to comment on this story? Email us at [email protected] or tweet us below to tell us your thoughts. We will run comments online in a round-up at the end of the week.

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