Retailers warn workers' rights Bill will mean fewer jobs
by Emily Hawkins · Mail OnlineThe workers' rights Bill is set to result in 'fewer jobs, not better ones' as the retail industry reels from higher taxes, bosses have warned.
In a desperate plea as the crucial Christmas shopping season reaches its climax, the boss of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that 'poorly aligned policies undermine job creation across the economy'.
The remarks come as the High Street faces a double whammy of both red tape in the workers' rights Bill and higher costs, including from the Chancellor's botched business rates reforms.
Fears over a growing jobs crisis intensified last week when data showed that the rate of unemployment has risen to 5.1 per cent.
Retail chiefs, including Next boss Simon Wolfson, have already argued that the new rules – which will see workers offered a certain number of guaranteed hours – are not fit for industries reliant on seasonal and temporary work.
In an opinion piece for the Daily Mail today, BRC chief Helen Dickinson said: 'Good employment policy should give employers the confidence to hire, retain and train people. Retail relies on a diverse workforce and flexible contracts to meet changing customer demand.
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'Undermining that flexibility risks pricing people out of work, particularly students, parents and older workers for whom retail provides an important route into employment.'
A clampdown on flexibility in the Bill 'will mean at the end of the day there are fewer jobs, not better ones', she said. Dickinson, whose group represents more than 200 companies, warned that higher costs 'over time translate into fewer jobs, fewer opportunities for working people and weaker high streets'.
Her comments echo those of the boss of Currys, who last week warned that the employment rights Bill would make some jobs in the retail industry 'unviable'. Alex Baldock said: 'The harder, riskier and more expensive you make it to employ people, the fewer people will be employed.'
Many firms have already struggled with the introduction of higher National Insurance contributions and wages earlier this year. And Chancellor Rachel Reeves' business rates reforms are set to hike the bills of thousands of smaller retailers, despite her insisting her changes would help the High Street.
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