In August 2011, the CIPD responded to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' consultation on Modern workplaces. The Government is consulting on changes to employment law to encourage a more fair and flexible approach at work. The consultation focuses on the following four areas:
- A new system of parental leave, to be shared between mothers and fathers
- Extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees
- Changes to the Working Time Regulations
- Requiring employers who lose an employment tribunal case on equal pay to carry out a pay audit
The CIPD strongly supports the Government's direction of travel on flexible working. We have consistently called for the right to request to be extended to all employees, and in our response we urge the Government to stick to their current timetable of implementation by the end of this Parliament. With regard to flexible parental leave, we hope that the Government will consult fully with employers and make implementation as simple as possible, in order for the proposals to meet their objectives and encourage a culture of shared parenting.
However, we are concerned about the possibility of micro-businesses being exempt from the new proposals. The CIPD is opposed to excluding any business of any size from employment regulation, as this will tend towards the creation of a two-tier labour market and disincentivise growth