The Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) wholeheartedly supports BIS Employment Relations Minister Norman Lamb’s decision to resist the proposal to extend various rulings of the European Court Justice into law.
These rulings are as follows: that on-call time should constitute working time even when the worker is asleep; annual leave accrued when on maternity leave should be carried over to the following year; and workers who are sick during a period of leave should be able to request further time off in lieu.
Lamb said Europe was making laws for which it had no democratic mandate, that the rulings were “barmy” and “massively open to abuse”. He emphasised that as Europe faces its greatest economic challenge in decades, there must be a clear focus on growth and flexibility, adding that this country needs to earn a living.
These compelling points made by Lamb also spell out the rationale behind ARC’s campaign for an early review of the AWR, which (while on the subject of EU law) is another ill-fitting implementation, which imposes a level of restriction that is opposed to economic recovery.
Adrian Marlowe, Chairman of the ARC, commented “We’ve already had the AWR foisted on us. Businesses do not need any more rights of this kind, all of which will take from growth and flexibility and place a particular burden on those organisations that are supporting employment.”
