The BRC, FDF and UKHospitality have written to business and trade secretary Peter Kyle warning that banning zero-hour contracts will damage jobs.
Requirements to give workers guaranteed hours in the Employment Rights Act pose a ‘substantial threat to good jobs’ according to the letter, also signed by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation.
The letter claims it will lead to poorer opportunities and conditions for workers and calls for policy compromises to avoid the “double whammy of increasing unemployment and fewer young people entering the labour market”.
“Across our sectors, concern is deep and growing that the current approach risks stripping flexibility from the labour market at precisely the wrong moment,” said the letter, dated 24 April.
“With demand already weakened, poorly designed guaranteed hours measures could become a tipping point, pushing employers to reduce hiring, limit hours or withdraw flexible roles altogether, denying work to those who need it most, or moving to less secure, more casual models of engagement.
“To avoid the double whammy of increasing unemployment and fewer young people entering the labour market we would like to see the government send an urgent and clear message to businesses that they should continue to hire with confidence.”
Read more: More retail job losses looming amid fears over Employment Rights Act
The letter calls for the reference period for assessing regular hours to be set at an “absolute minimum” of six months, arguing 12 months would most accurately reflecting genuine regularity.
It demands acknowledgement that temporary agencies already operate within robust regulatory frameworks and says additional hours should be determined by agencies rather than end-hirers, to avoid a drive to “false self-employment”.
It says the low-hours threshold should be set at eight hours, to avoid sweeping up workers who do not need protections and creating a right to demand more work that might not be available.
It also calls for the government to engage in immediate discussion with business groups about proposal changes.
The Employment Rights Act became law in December and is being implemented in phases until next year.
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