CIPD queries ‘owner-employees’ plan

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has queried proposals put forward by George Osborne which would allow new ‘owner-employees’ to exchange some of their UK employment rights for rights of ownership in the form of shares in the business they work for.

The professional body is urging business and Government to look again at the weak evidence base for watering down employment rights.

“The UK has one of the least regulated labour markets in the world and there is little evidence to suggest that employment regulation is preventing small businesses from taking people on,” said Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser at the CIPD.

“In fact, according to the Government’s own research, unfair dismissal doesn’t even figure in the list of top ten regulations discouraging them from recruiting staff. Employees have little to gain by substituting their fundamental rights for uncertain financial gain and employers have little to gain by creating a two tier labour market,” he added.