Commenting on the ‘leaked’ document, Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) said, “The draft manifesto draws attention to areas in our society that many would agree require attention and investment, and investment leading to new jobs and better rates of pay is to be welcomed. We look forward to seeing the detail on areas such as the proposal to abolish zero hours contracts, but we see the idea of a minimum guaranteed number of hours as problematic. It is not at all clear what kind of regular contract a worker would be entitled to after 12 weeks work of regular hours, as is proposed.

The idea that all workers should have the same rights from day 1 is an entirely new innovation and we question whether it would work for our economy in practice. However, we welcome the manifesto commitment to modernise employment status and related law, an exercise which we have long argued is overdue, so long as it correctly reflects flexibility within the labour force and is beneficial for our economy, our businesses and our society.”