Bonfire of the Red Tape Vanities

The government has almost finished its red tape consultation exercise – http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/

The underlying assumptions are that we (the UK as a nation):

a)      are over-regulated and over-legislated

b)      retain the power to repeal legislation

c)       can simplify legislation that we can’t repeal

The ‘red tape’ website has a special section for employment law and equality.  When you enter them, you can click the link and see the statutes under discussion.  All well and good, but unless you are used to reading statutes and statutory instruments, you will soon be repelled by the impenetrable layout and jargon.  Of course, if you don’t know what section gives which right, or imposes what obligation, you may be a long time reading before you are in a position to comment.

The questions are quite broad, and it must be tempting for people to say repeal what you can and simplify the rest.   How realistic is this as a plan?  Over the next few blogs, we shall be exploring some of the issues.

a)            Assumption:  in the UK we are over-regulated and over-legislated

We are over regulated, but the process of deciding who should have which rights is a fundamental one.   I might want the right to dismiss anyone I want whenever I want, but I might not want to be on the receiving end of such a right when exercised.  I might want the freedom to abuse anyone I choose in any way I choose, but I might not like to be on the receiving end of it.

If we started the process not with what rights should we abolish, but what rights do we feel we really need to have (as a safety net for ourselves, our children and our loved ones), would we want to abolish the same laws in the same way  if we look at it from the perspective of an employer?

I have the privilege of being a business owner, self employed, a boss, a mother of sons who work for other people, and an employment law and HR specialist who hears a lot about what goes wrong in the workplace.

To me, the whole debate about legislation is like trying to fix a difficult marriage by changing the divorce laws.  I think that in divorce law it is a good thing to have a streamlined separation process.   I would not relinquish protection from domestic violence or abuse in the interests of simplifying UK law.  In the workplace there are many real problems that people need some way of addressing, and some remedy for.

We work with wonderful organisations who really do try to bring their vision into the world and take their staff along with them, but we still regularly come across individuals who are frankly abused and damaged at work by bosses who should not be allowed to own a dog, never mind employ a person.

If I were an animal, I would have regulations about:

a)      How I am transported (which would make a lot of my commutes illegal overcrowding)

b)      How often I am fed and watered (working time regulation is OK for animals)

c)       Whether I am to be kept in conditions that make me stressed or ill (H&S)

d)      Whether I am to receive appropriate medical attention when needed

e)      How I am to be terminated

As a person, it would seem there is a sentiment that none of this should apply to me, and that regulation at work is over-regulation.    But should I not have the same rights in the workplace at the very least as an animal on a farm?

Before we call for another round of simplification (the recent Equality Act was enough simplification for me) we need to ask ourselves:

1)      Do we want to live in a world where the employment market is:

1. Regulated
2. Unregulated

..to be continued……

Annabel Kaye is Managing Director of Irenicon Ltd, a specialist employment law consultancy.

Tel: 08452 303050 Fax: 08452 303060
Website :  www.irenicon.co.uk
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