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News
HR Editorial, 06 Dec 2011
HR magazine asked some of the leading HR directors and thinkers in the UK if there is a need for an employment law taskforce – where HR directors, unions, employers, industry bodies and Government could devise a practical and workable solution to the complexity and clutter of existing employment laws. As the comments below indicate, the results have been astounding.
"Involving HR directors is key to ensuring workable, fit-for-purpose solutions can be implemented. Many HR professionals such as myself have employment law qualifications. I would relish the opportunity to join the table." David Smith, group HR director, LV=
"There is need for some de-cluttering of employment law, a sense that it equally plays fair between employer and employee and encourages business, rather than works against it. I would be very up for taking part in a taskforce." Martin Tiplady, ex-HRD at the Metropolitan Police Service
"Brilliant that you are taking a stand on this - couldn't agree more with your observations. I will join any taskforce, as I have a wealth of first-hand stories about the impact on charities." Helen Giles, HR director of Broadway Housing
"I agree it would be good to have a more inclusive employment law taskforce and for HR to be directly involved in it. But, the greatest demand for simplification is coming from SMEs, many of whom may not have an HR professional working for them." Linda Holbech, director at the Holbech Partnership
"It is critical to have a taskforce on employment law and the sooner the better, before it gets too political. It needs people who have employment law expertise as well as organisational change types." Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health, Lancaster University Management School
"This is one topic, among many, that could benefit from commercial insight and direction, if we are to do our part as businesses to pull this country out of recession… I believe that, given the right group of people, the prospect for the future could stand a chance of being more intuitive and simple." Misty Reich, HR director at KFC
So what is HR magazine proposing?
This is your time to make a difference and speak out. This is the time HR can prove its strategic capability at the highest levels of government, to effect change both in businesses and in the law. Don't miss out on the opportunity.
What you can do
Contact david.woods@markallengroup.com with your evidence, comments, suggestions and questions. Watch this space as we develop our initiatives.
7 comments on this article |
Matthew Pinto-Chilcott 07 Dec 2011
I fully agree we do need to crush complexity but unfortunately due to the majority of new laws stemming from Europe, our hands are tied on ensuring implementation. The government, however should at a minimum have a HR task force that know what its like at the coal face and the best ways to implement it and make it less complex. Until this approach is taken and with the current coalition government, i think it will continue to be complex and sign up for this campaign.
Simon North 08 Dec 2011
In your piece the other day, I was struck most by the comments of Dave Allen at NetApp; that it was the employer that should set employees up to succeed. In any review of legislation, it would be a fundamental shift in thinking if this was central to the outcome. Whilst European legislation has made life more complex, there are vested interests in the process who do not seem to have the success of the employer/employee relationships at the heart. Complexity suits employment lawyers and pressure on governments of whatever persuasion, to shift the "balance of power/control", are not helpful if the outcome is successful relationships in business. We need fair and reasonable legislation that is interpreted in a tough way - that is, commercial and practical but also flexible where it needs to be. We have to also recognise that a lot of our issues are the result of inadequacies in our leader and manager behaviours and it would be good to see these addressed in the debate too.
Jose Santiago 08 Dec 2011
Keeping it simple is what we need to do so that it is easiere to understand and so that decisions can be made quicker. Multiple time options for different actions or events cause complexity. Multiple legislation and practices cause comolexity and uncertainty in case of a dispute. Principles need to be set out and supported by case law that is consistently applied and of course ECJ needs to play ball as well in this.
Brendan Wincott 12 Dec 2011
I think this is an excellent initiative. Employment regulation has certainly got out of hand over recent years and is now in urgent need of reform. The Government need to be aware exactly what problems employers face and have an element of accountability if changes are not made. I think organisations of all sizes should be included, including business owners as well as organisations who represent employers. I look forward to developments in this area.
Ed Gonsalves 16 Dec 2011
I totally agree with any proposal that seeks to simplify decision making and that seeks to reduce hurdles to it- be they legislative or otherwise. Nevertheless, complexity is a fact of executive life in the modern scenario and developing techniques/methods/processes/understandings to better manage and benefit from such complexity are also worth spending our energies & resources on. Ed Gonsalves Director cooplexity.com
Mark Boorman 15 Mar 2012
As an HR & Payroll outsourcing provider to SMEs we at Ochre.co.uk found that our customers were struggling to keep up to date with the high level of changes and new employment legislation. Most SMEs cannot afford to have in-house expertise to support them through this and have turned to third parties, such as Ochre, to help them out. In turn we are investing in our own team to ensure that they are up to date with all changes and can therefore provide our customers with the best advice. In our relatively short existence as a company the rate of change has been phenomenal. We are more than happy to provide any help we can to support this initiative.
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