UKHospitality calls for fairness and transparency for employers and employees

Trade association UKHospitality has called on the government to ensure that employment in the UK is “fair, transparent and flexible for both employers and employees”.

Responding to a series of consultations in the wake of the Taylor Review into modern working, UKHospitality has made a series of recommendations to provide a modernised framework of employment fit for the 21st Century.

In its submission to consultations on: Increasing transparency in the UK labour market; employment status; and enforcement of employment rights, UKHospitality has called on the government to:

• Ensure a level-playing field for all businesses regardless of their business model and provide clear guidance for employers and individuals on their employment and taxation status
• Provide more transparency for workers and employers and support the extension of holiday pay reference periods to more accurately reflect working practices
• Maintain flexibility in the labour market for mutual benefit Make sure that businesses are not able to use differences in tax status as an incentive to employment
• Set out the core principles of employment status definitions in legislation but allow a degree of flexibility for complex cases

Preserve the current three-tier system and rename the intermediary tier dependent contractors

Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality chief executive, said: “The UK’s hospitality sector has been a fantastic engine for growth, providing jobs in every region of the country and revitalising high streets.

“However, the sector is facing considerable barriers to further growth and we need to see the Government act decisively to ensure that employment is transparent and fair for both employers and employees.

“Businesses must continuously evolve to keep pace with changing consumer demand and legislative and cost pressures. Likewise, the environment in which businesses operative needs to allow flexibility and an opportunity for them to succeed.