On 11 July the CIPD attended the launch of the much-anticipated Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, to which the Institute submitted a formal written response in May. In a packed out RSA hall, Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA, set out the Review’s main recommendations, before inviting the Prime Minister to respond.

Taylor called on the Government to complement its focus on creating jobs with the goal of creating better jobs: good work should become an accepted national ambition.

The Prime Minister agreed that good work is in the interest of good business, recognising that with good work can come dignity and a sense of self-worth, and it can promote good mental and physical health.

The CIPD welcomed the commitment to creating good work. The remarkably high levels of employment in the country should not be taken for granted, but the quality of work deserves as much attention as the quantity of it. Over the last year, through its work on the new professional principles and in developing the new professional standards, the CIPD has repeatedly made the case that work matters. As quoted in the Review, the CIPD believes that work should provide us all with the opportunity to fulfil our own needs and potential in ways that suit our situations throughout our lives.

Both Taylor and the Prime Minister also called out the merits of flexibility. Flexible working can help employers access the talents and skills of those for whom nine-to-five doesn’t work. However, both spoke against one-sided flexibility, where workers are expected to be at an employer’s beck and call without any guarantee of hours or reward for their flexibility. In particular, the CIPD welcomes the proposal in the Review to allow zero-hours workers to request minimum hours if they have been with the same employer for 12 months.

Finally, the CIPD fully supports Taylor’s view that as employers seize technological opportunities, they should do so with the aim of making working lives better, taking away the drudgery and leaving the human contact and creativity that machines cannot provide.

The recommendations made in the Review are many and far-reaching, and the full consequences will not be clear for some time. The CIPD remains committed to championing better work and working lives, and looks forward to continuing to work with both the Government and Matthew Taylor on the next steps of this very important agenda.