CRITICAL to the ability of a business to grow is having a motivated workforce. The recession has opened a new dialogue between employees and employers with many organisations negotiating forms of flexible working to reduce headline job losses and ensure it could maintain the talent within the workforce

The CBI yesterday called on the Government to fundamentally rethink its approach to employment law to reflect this and to bolster workplace flexibility and foster better employment relations.

Government should build on the success of workplace relations forged during the recession by embedding this flexible approach into future employment law and in its Employment Law Review. Rather than automatically opting for legislation, in most cases the Government should specify what it is trying to achieve and set out suggested processes in more flexible guidance or codes of practice.

So far, the Government has given some welcome signals on reducing regulation and is looking at ways of improving the tribunals system. But it has also introduced policies that have reduced flexibility, including abolishing the Default Retirement Age without addressing the need for employers to have protected conversations about retirement plans and failing to review the Agency Workers Directive, which has been gold plated to include extra process costs for employers, not required under European law.

With a strong base of employment rights already in place, we simply don’t need the State telling us how to manage every aspect of basic human relations.The Government should adopt a simpler approach to future employment law, one which maximises choice for employers and staff and plays up the strengths of our flexible labour market. Good communication helped companies and employees work together to make difficult changes to working patterns to get through the recession.

Flexibility is a key ingredient in driving future economic growth in the UK.

It is also a key aspect that more and more professionals look for in their lives and careers, particularly at a time when we want to encourage employers to invest and create more jobs, despite today’s economic uncertainty. Endless red tape and legislation prevents employers and employees from being able to capitalise on the vast number of benefits that flexible working offers.

It is time these constraints are removed so that we can get more people into worthwhile work.

Sarah Green, regional director, CBI North East