Continued from part 1.
Measures will be brought forward to help working people by greatly increasing the provision of free childcare.
Zee Hussain, partner at Colemans-ctts and Head of the Employment Department says that families will benefit from free childcare.
“Childcare, working parents, shared parental leave are clearly topics that have been dominating the news for quite some time. The new proposal to increase the current 15 hour free childcare places per week for children aged three and four to 30 hours per week will be most certainly welcomed by both families and businesses. Not only would this save working families a vast amount of money and offer much more flexibility with their careers, it would also help increase job opportunities at childcare establishments, in turn giving a boost to the economy.
Measures will be introduced to increase energy security and to control immigration. My government will bring forward legislation to reform trade unions and to protect essential public services against strikes.
James Marsh, HR consultant at Symposium, says:
“There is no doubt that unions play an essential role in business and society, providing a voice for their member sand protecting and improving their conditions.
“However, these strike action reforms were a prominent Conservative election pledge, and their subsequent majority victory in May will be viewed as a mandate from the people who should feel that strike action in recent years has been over-used and overly disruptive for businesses and the public.”
Zee Hussain adds:
“Not only can strike actions severely impact organisations and impose huge financial losses, they also create an abundance of extra work for HR professionals and employees choosing not to strike – not to mention the impact on businesses and individuals generally. The intention to propose a ban on strike action except where 40 percent of the eligible trade union members vote in favour together with the linked proposal to lift the ban on the ability to hire agency staff where a strike action does take place will be significant. Businesses and HR Professionals will have a greater level of control, which should help reduce the severity of any such action.”
Early legislation will be introduced to provide for an in-out referendum on membership of the European Union before the end of 2017.
Lee Hamilton, Head of employee mobility services on leaving EU and impact on expats, says:
“Leaving the EU could have a significant impact on the operation of social security for employers with expatriate employees. Currently, where employees are working cross border, ‘double liabilities’ are avoided within the EU by means of an EU regulation on social security.
“Under certain circumstances, this enables employees to continue to make National Insurance Contributions when they are temporarily working in another EU country, rather than having to contribute to the system of the host territory. This clearly assists the freedom of movement when it comes to EU workers and therefore supports business growth.
“Without the regulation, EU countries would be free to impose their own social security on UK employers who have employees working temporarily in their country, potentially leading to increased cost for employers and employees.”
Overall, reactions to the announcement have been positive. Zee Hussain concludes:
“On the face of it, today’s announcement appears to touch many of the burning issues that the UK has been facing for some time. Helping people get into work, taking some of the burden away from families and easing the intensity of any dreaded strike actions are initiatives that should bring a smile to the faces of individuals and businesses alike.”
Title image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Steff joined the HRreview editorial team in November 2014. A former event coordinator and manager, Steff has spent several years working in online journalism. She is a graduate of Middlessex University with a BA in Television Production and will complete a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Westminster in the summer of 2015.
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