Staff would turn down promotion to keep flexibility at work
Half of the UK’s part-time staff would turn down a promotion if it meant losing the flexibility of their current role, according to fresh polling, leading industry chiefs to warn against an overzealous crackdown on agile working.
The Yougov data, commissioned by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and shared exclusively with Morning Wire, found exactly 50 per cent of Brits who opt not to work five days a week would only accept more responsibility if they could keep their part-time status.
The government is currently considering how to enforce parts of its flagship Employment Rights Act, which includes a promise to guarantee staff a minimum number of hours and “end exploitative zero-hours contracts”.
The sweeping package has enjoyed strong support from unions and been hailed by ministers as the “biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”. But employers and industry chiefs have warned some measures will choke off job opportunities for young and flexible staff, amplifying the UK’s youth joblessness crisis.
Opposition has been particularly fervent from the hospitality and retail sectors, which employ a disproportionate number of staff on part-time and zero-hours contracts.
Responding to the polling, BRC chief Helen Dickinson told Morning Wire that an overly strict interpretation could kill off workers’ aspirations to “move forward in their careers”.
“The Employment Rights Act offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen worker rights, but how it is implemented will be critical,” she added. “Government must strike the right balance by targeting genuine insecurity while preserving the flexible roles that support progression.”
Staff face missing out on seasonal work
Next’s boss Simon Wolfson, who is a sitting peer in the House of Lords, has also become an outspoken critic of the act’s flexible working measures. The industry veteran added several amendments to the bill when it was being debated in parliament, warning the guaranteed hours posed a problem for retailers given the sector’s seasonal nature.
“The risk is you then have to contract for those hours forever,” he told the BBC in an interview, adding that retailers can’t afford to “have the same number of people in your shop in February as you have in and around Christmas”.
As part of the sweeping employment reforms, ministers established the Fair Work Agency, a new regulator to oversee employers’ adherence to the raft of fresh legislation. The watchdog will be responsible for setting the so-called ‘hours threshold’, above which employers will be obliged to offer staff a more permanent contract.
The BRC wants guaranteed hours protections to kick in no lower than eight hours a week, which it says would “better reflect seasonal working patterns” and ensure they don’t undermine “flexible jobs that work well for both employees and employers”.
The hospitality industry has also voiced unease about the stricter guaranteed hours proposal, which senior figures have said risks compounding the meagre employment prospects faced by young workers. There are currently 735,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who are unemployed or not in formal education or training. When accounting for people who are economically inactive, that figure rises to over 1m.
UK Hospitality chair Kate Nicholls told Morning Wire the polling “reinforces how highly that flexibility is valued, with many unwilling to sacrifice it, even for career progression”.
Hospitality is one of the UK’s most flexible employers, supporting millions of people balancing work with studying, caring responsibilities, family life and other commitments,” she said, adding: “As the government continues to develop its guaranteed hours reforms, it must strike the right balance between providing job security and preserving the flexibility that so many depend on.”
A government spokesperson said: “Our economy can only thrive when people have a wage they can count on, and our analysis shows the Employment Rights Act will benefit over 18m workers, with young workers set to disproportionately benefit.
“We’re currently consulting on the act’s zero-hours measures, which are designed to end one-sided flexibility and make sure all jobs provide a baseline level of security and predictability.”