Director Weekly  The government’s climbdown on day one employment rights was great news for business. Will ministers now listen to employers’ other concerns?

The plan to give all employees full employment rights from their very first day in a new job was a source of significant concern from the moment it was announced. We accepted the case for extending employment rights earlier – the current two-year threshold, introduced in 2012, made the UK an outlier compared to other similar markets, where one year or six-month thresholds are more common.

Yet day one rights would have left the UK every bit the outlier at the other end of the spectrum. Employers told us, frankly, that the plan was nuts. Even the best-designed job application and selection processes are not infallible; sometimes, a hire just doesn’t work out, and the only option is to let somebody go.

Exposing employers to the threat of tribunals from day one would have vastly increased the risks involved in taking people on, and completely undermined employers’ confidence in hiring.

So the climbdown is great news. It should increase confidence in hiring as the Bill becomes law – and indeed, it may be enough to get the Bill moving in the Lords, too, where it has encountered strong opposition and risked further delays.

However, it is not the end of the story.

What has emerged is that the government has negotiated with the trade unions to scrap the cap on unfair dismissal payouts (currently £118,223). This is fresh cause for alarm for employers, who face the prospect of even higher costs if they’re found to be at fault.

We continue to have concerns about other measures too, particularly around guaranteed hours, trade union recognition, and industrial action thresholds. We will continue to address these issues as the Bill progresses into secondary legislation.

That process will unfold via a raft of consultations: we expect 30 in total in the coming year. The first few are already underway, starting with two relating to trade unions. One is on the proposed framework for giving trade unions a right of access to all workplaces, and a right to communicate with workers, in person or digitally; the other is on the implementation of the requirement for employers to proactively inform workers of their right to join a trade union. Then there are consultations on enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers, and leave for bereavement, including pregnancy loss.

We have a number of concerns here, particularly around the proposals for union access. I believe many employers have yet to hear about these plans: when they do, they have serious reservations, as our recent member survey has made clear.

We will continue to represent directors’ concerns to government, and provide constructive input to help the government implement its reforms in a way that does the least possible damage to employment.

After all, economic confidence is in short supply. The last thing the government should be doing is undermining employers. The day one climbdown is a sensible and very welcome step in the right direction; we hope that the government will take more such steps in the months ahead.

Read the IoD’s statement on the day one climbdown here.