This Week, In Recruiting - Issue 179

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Open Kitchen: New Labour Government: Implications for Recruiters, TA & HR

Last week on Thursday, I moderated an expert panel on the changes in employment law that the new UK Labour government plans to implement once Parliament resumes session after the current summer recess. We had expert representation on panel and I strongly recommend that UK recruiters, talent acquisition and HR professionals both watch the replay of the session (do it here) and follow / connect on LinkedIn with our guests Neil Carberry, MD (Recruitment & Employment Confederation), David D'Souza, Direct of Profession (CIPD) and Ray Walker, VP of Contingent Workforce Management (Worksome).

I'm going use today's Open Kitchen to summarise our discussion, raise awareness of the changes incoming and give the community some foundation with which to do further investigation.

NB: this is going to be a UK centric post so if you are not in the UK, feel free to skip!

1. Single Status Worker

There are currently three types of employment status in the UK - employee, worker & self employed. Most of us are employees, salaried employees of an organisation who draw a regular salary for regular work. Some of use are self employed, either as a sole trader or as a Director of a Ltd company. However, there are many people who are also classified as 'Workers' - who exists in the liminal space in between. These are often working irregular hours, potentially seasonal staff, and have less employee rights, especially on issues like dismissal.

The position of the Labour government is to extend employee rights to the 'worker' status and in effect eliminate it as a separate category - hence 'Single Worker Status'. It's a laudable goal to put into place legislation which protects the weakest members of society, but also important to note that 'worker' status can be a preferred option for many people, especially those who might desire flexibility of hours and schedule. We have an economic system which is built around the concept of 'full time' work but many people are unable or unwilling to do 40 hours per week, according to employers schedule, and hence there has been some resistance from the workers themselves on any reclassification.

The panel was clear that the Labour government was taking industry consultation and would be taking time before making changes to legislation. However, the direction of travel is likely to mean extension of employee protections for those currently in the 'worker' category.

Recruitment Implications? Likely accelerates automation, as employers look to reduce the numbers of workers in anticipation of extended rights. Think QR codes on restaurants, driverless cabs for Uber etc.

2. Ban Unpaid Internships

There is and has been a spirited debate on the merits / demerits of unpaid internships. Its seems obvious on the outset that unpaid internships are bad - they appear to be transparent case of exploitation of young people who are powerless to otherwise negotiate better terms. Additionally, given that the unpaid intern is going to need other means of support - usually the parents - there is a strong element of bias as only those with the generational wealth are going to be able to undertake such work and hence secure the advertised advantages of gaining 'real world experience', building social capital and auditioning for paid employment down the road.

We have to consider the trade off in losing genuine opportunities for up skilling, especially in professions which are typically not well remunerated yet still require a human labour force. Do want to make unpaid internships available in the NHS, for example? Most of us probably would be keen to support a pipeline of talent that would move onto to careers in the healthcare sector, that otherwise would not happen if the economic state of the employer prevented any increase in case.

There is a plan to exempt internships from the ban if there is a formal training programme provided. This seems like a sensible compromise - though as ever, the devil will be in the detail here!

Recruitment Implications? Recruiters will be relieved of the PR burden of hiring for unpaid internships. The people most annoyed are probably small businesses owners who might variably be able to provide experience in exchange for unpaid work. HR should be pleased - there is work to be done on getting employers in the a position offer formal training in exchange for unpaid work.

3. Remove 18-20 Age Category on Minimum Wage

UK has an age stratified minimum wage - the differences are not trivial - as you see in the table above. An apprentice is a formal classification where at least 20% of your paid working hours is dedicated to training. Under the new system proposed by the Labour government, the 18-20 category will be removed so that all workers at 18 and above will be paid the minimum wage of £11.44 per hour. The commentary from the panel was super interesting - it seemed that most employers were paying minimum wage as if everyone was 21 in any case and considered this move to be welcome and potentially low-disruption. I'm not convinced that the impact will be slight, especially in industries which typically employ the youngest workers - retail, leisure and hospitality - all of whom are currently under pressure after pandemic followed by cost-of-business crisis.

Recruitment Implications?: Accelerate automation and maybe telepresence. Global shift to remote has made many previously on-premise jobs available to lower cost offshore workers - see the South American reception workers, doing reception work to US offices via telepresence.

4. Day One Rights to Sick Pay, Holiday Pay & Right to Tribunal

Labour's Employment Rights Bill will give workers a number of 'Day 1' rights, including holiday and sick pay, as well as right of tribunal in case the worker feels they have been unfairly dismissed. Under current UK legislation, employees have no right to tribunal in case of unfair dismissal within 2 years of employment. We do not know what impact this will have on the volume of cases brought to tribunal and the panel was clear that the current system is inadequately resourced to cater for any significant increase, leading the prospect of long backlogs. This could be an incentive or a deterrent for the employee based on their own circumstances - some people will want closure and moving on, others may see an opportunity to string out what may be a good deal for them in current circumstances. I am reminded of some proximate examples where a personal friend (in France) was made redundant but contested the case, resulting in nearly 2 years of non-work whilst the case was being heard. In the UK, may still be paid a normal salary whilst your case is being heard, so dependent on the availability of this 'interim relief' we can see that tribunal cases and inefficiency in resolution, as well as a continuing challenging employment market - might provide strong incentive for employees to pursue this claim.

Recruitment Implications? Increase company interest in alternative workers as hedge against the increased risk of hiring FTE staff. This should mean more work for staffing agencies on the contract side, as well as increase HR workload on managing a more diverse and complicated workforce.

5. Right to Switch off

UK Workers will soon be given the right to switch off when not at work. The panel believed that this was likely to take the form of guidance rather than legislation, with some hard lines drawn on persistent out-of-hours contact rather than the odd message or email sent outside the times of formal employment contract.

There are a three things to think about when it comes to this proposal. Firstly, how to enforce in case of transgression, secondly, the cultural revolution required to really switch off when out of work hours and thirdly, what of the subliminal messages sent by refusing to support the business out of work hours. I'm banking on British common sense to get most organisations through this one, though we will see what happens then the inevitable case is brought to court.

Incidentally, there is a strong argument to special case the recruitment industry on Right to Switch Off, as we don't work to standard hours regardless of what the contract states. The need to speak to candidates out of work hours is normal, though not reflected in our contracts of employment. What would you do if you were a recruitment business owner and one of your consultants refused to speak to a candidate after 5.30pm?

Recruitment Implications? Likely to be minor, though we will see in case law

6. Single Enforcement Body

Final point on the show is that the government intend to consolidate the institutions involved in on enforcing employment law in the single body, likely to be called, the Fair Work Agency. The creation of this body will mean M&A like cultural change with the disparate governmental bodies currently managing the oversight and enforcement of the law. This itself will be a significant undertaking and one of the primary reasons why the panel felt that the though the legislative program is significant, the practical considerations in ensuring that there is adequate oversight and enforcement will mean that there will be ramp up time in order for employers and recruiters to prepare.

Hope you found this summary useful; obviously you should seek employment law advice from a qualified professional if you run into any issues covered in this post.

Now out of the kitchen, onto the lounge 👇

What's Going On?

Big List of Recruiter Events to Attend in 2024

Big List of Recruiting and HR Events to Attend in 2024 - updated folks. Coming back from Recfest, no question my enthusiasm for in-person events has only grown. Make sure you check out this spreadsheet - add any you think are missing - and get attending some of these amazing events. Btw, we might as well start adding 2025 events also, so get cracking with this also!

Employer Story Video Tech for Talent Attraction, Tue 27th Aug, 10am BST

How do you use video to showcase your company culture? It might actually be very hard to do it any other way. I'm with David Macciocca, CEO of VideoMyJob and we're going to be talking about what the most effective techniques in producing effective video, and EGC at scale. We're on 10.00am this Tues 27th August, 2024. Register here

Human-Centric AI in Hiring: Blending Efficiency and Experience, Tues 27th Aug, 1pm EST | 10am PST | 6pm BST

What is Human-centred AI? This is a critically important concept as we all become AI-enabled businesses. We are going to achieve efficiency - but can we do that and ensure human agency and experience? We're going to explore with Rameen Fattahi, Director, Recruiting Operations & Insights (Rivian), Charles Mah, CCO (GoodTime) and Ahryun Moon, CEO, (GoodTime) in finding a way where we can innovate with AI but ensure the human experience remains at the centre of it. Register here

Founders Focus - Ep51 - Up close and personal with Runar Reistrup, CEO of YunoJuno, Wednesday 28th August, 12pm BST

Runar probably doesn't remember but we met a long time ago when I was chatting about a newly funded company called DePop ;-). I'm going to be excited to reconnect with Runar and learn from him what he has learned from CEO-ing scale ups vs leading enterprises. This is the show where we get up close and personal with the people changing the way we work together. We're on Weds 28th August, 12pm BST. Register here

Brainfood Live On Air - Ep270 - Maternity Return: Are Employers Doing Enough (Or Anything At All?), Fri 30th Aug, 2pm BST

We know about Maternity Leave but how many us have ever thought about Maternity Return? A conversation with a friend of mine who had herself recently returned from Mat Leave led me to understand that there is a huge gap in our thinking when it comes to workers returning from Mat Leave. Where are we at and what should we do doing about it? We're with Kirsty Wigley-Smith, Senior Manager Talent Acquisition, (LogicMonitor) Heidi Wassini, Director, Global Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding (Too Good To Go), Kellie Nedelcoux, Founder (Career & Parenthood) & friends. Make sure you turn up for this folks - Register here

Britains Got Tech Talent, Monday 11.00am, 5th September

Excited to have this demo stage to see the state of UK recruitment innovation. We're going to speed run 6 demo's of recruitment technology that you should be thinking about - I'm co-hosting wuth Michael Blakely, CEO of Equitas, and we'll be hosting Dina Bay, CEO of PitchMe, Rob Green, CEO of RecTec, Jemma Simpson Founder of Diverse Talent and Martin Mason, CEO of Talent Mapper. Register here

Worksome Meetup: Operating with independent talent in the UK, Wed 3rd Oct, 830am - 10.45am, Lantana London Bridge | 44-46 Southwark St

In a VUCA world, it is essential for employers to create an agile and flexible workforce. Whilst the core component of any business will always be FTE, the non-FTE component will continue to increase as workers and organisations figure out new ways of working. What are the best ways to work with 'independent talent' in the UK? Join Worksome in this in-person meet up in London Bridge on the 3rd Oct. Register here

ERE Recruiting Conference, November 12-14, Anaheim, CA, USA

As I mentioned, I'm stealing Peter Hinssen's term, 'human premium'. I suspect that it, along with access to collective intelligence, is going to be the decisive component of human work in era of generative AI. How does this translate for us in TA? I'm going to be presenting a discussion on how recruiters can future proof in the era of AI. I would welcome any comments or contributions from the community in advance of this talk. See you in Anaheim: register here

NB: if you want a discount code, comment "ERE" below and I will DM you

If you have an event, webinar or podcast going on next week and want it featured on next week's newsletter, comment below with the link and event details. Don't forget to at mention me so that I see it

Whose Story?

Tiffany Hughes, Talent Acquisition Leader

We're back with Brainfood Tribune, where interview series where we ask community members 20 Questions which prompt deep introspection. Learn more about who Tiffany Hughes is - aside from being a standout professional in TA leadership. Have a read here

NB: if you would like to work with me and take part in this series, comment below 'TRIBUNE' and I'll get in touch.

What Are You Doing?

My friends Charlotte Hall and Luke Shipley at Zinc are raising funds for the Children's Liver Disease Foundation. As some of you might already know, this is an issue very close to Charlotte and Luke whose son Louie was born with a very serious liver condition.

Please donate what you can to support Charlotte on this fundraiser! Justgiving link here

End Notes

Bank Holiday today in the UK, last one for the long while and pretty much the bookend to the summer. Overall, I reckon the summer has been decent - sport was great, sun was alright and even some stirrings in business, which I would not say is green shoots, but at least some life in what remains a tough landscape. More to do in Q3 and Q4 - getting ready to sprint hard to the end of the year. Good luck to everyone doing the same!

Cheers

Hung

Hung Lee is the curator of Recruiting Brainfood, and now This Week In Recruiting. Subscribe to both if you are into recruiting or HR or just interested in world of work.