In your corner: REC Campaigns and Policy news – 23 September 2021

There's never a dull moment in 2021- in the last two weeks, the Prime Minister has reshuffled his Cabinet - and promoted Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi MP to Education Secretary - signed a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the US (known as AUKUS), and announced his Covid winter plan – setting out how we’re going to live with the virus over the winter months.  Next up, the end of the furlough scheme is on 30 September.

Labour shortages campaign 
Last week, we took our labour shortages survey findings to Parliamentarians. 
Since then, we’ve already:

• Secured five meetings with MPs and Peers
• Had two written parliamentary questions tabled 
• Had an MP write to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) with our findings and recommendations 
• Attended a roundtable with the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to talk about driver shortages
• Met with senior officials at BEIS and shared our recommendations with them.

One of our recommendations is for government to establish a cross-departmental group, which includes industry leaders and experts. While we’re pleased that government has set up an internal group, to be truly effective, it must include industry leaders who can share their expertise and work alongside government to resolve the shortages.  

REC meets with Lord Rosser
This week, the REC met with Lord Rosser, Shadow Spokesperson for Transport and Home Affairs in the House of Lords. It was a positive meeting where we set out our asks and recommendations in more detail and discussed some drivers' specific issues ahead of peak season. We talked about temporary changes that could be introduced in the immigration system, a review of some of the training schemes currently on offer, enabling us to upskill internal workforces, and the need to focus on retention and job satisfaction, e.g. improving roadside facilities in the driving and logistics sector. We also discussed the importance of maintaining digital right to work (RTW) checks.

REC joins the APPG on Migration
Immigration lawyers, Fragomen LLP, together with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration have launched a report:  The Impact of the New Immigration Rules on Employers in the UK to which the REC has contributed. The launch event was held on Tuesday and I joined as one of the panellists. I used that opportunity to present the findings of our labour shortages survey and to highlight how the combination of the pandemic and the new immigration rules are forming the perfect storm in terms of labour and skills shortages. The REC is aligned with the recommendations of the report which calls for a cross-departmental forum, a review of the immigration system to address shortages, and a simplified and robust RTW checks mechanism. You can watch the recording here.

REC in the media
Our labour shortages survey  featured in The Times, Bloomberg and Personnel Today, amongst others. Support from the Road Haulage Association and UK Hospitality also secured coverage in UK Haulier and the Morning Advertiser. Earlier in the week, we commented on the latest ONS labour market figures, and our response was included in reports by BBC News and the Evening Standard.

The REC also announced the results of our latest compliance test cycle, which was covered by Recruiter and Personnel Today, and Kate Shoesmith was featured in a New York Times piece on the current jobs crisis in the UK.

Flexible working consultation
Yesterday, in response to the Matthew Taylor Review (2019) the government launched a consultation on introducing the right to request flexible working from day one. The REC, along with other industry bodies, has been encouraging government to take forward some of the recommendations in the Review, particularly around offering more flexibility to workers. This is a welcome move but it’s important that any requests to work flexibly are part of a conversation with employers, so that workers and employers can decide what works best for the individual and the business. Plans also include consulting on day one right to request unpaid leave for carers. These proposals extend to England, Wales, and Scotland. Employment law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

Mandatory Vaccine for NHS and care home workers and sector webinar
From 11 November, all care home workers are required to have two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine unless exempt, meaning all workers should have had the first dose of vaccines on or before 16 September in order to continue frontline positions beyond 11 November. DHSC has also launched a consultation to consider extending the similar measures to the NHS staff. The REC will be consulting our healthcare members during the sector webinar on 12 October with a view to writing to the department.

Frontier workers
Some businesses are thinking outside the box when it comes to solving labour shortages, by using Frontier Worker permits. Broadly speaking, a Frontier Worker is an EEA or Swiss national who temporarily comes to the UK for work but whose main place of residence is outside the UK. You may want to check if any EEA nationals on your books are eligible to apply for a Frontier Worker Permit. Click here to read more about the requirements.

Research corner
KMPG and REC’s latest Report on Jobs showed that recruitment activity continued to rise last month. Data showed that permanent staff appointments rose, with the fastest rate of growth  ever, while temporary billings rose at a near-record pace. We have also seen a contraction in overall candidate availability, that was the steepest on record. Low worker supply and high demand led to a further increasing in both starting salaries and temp pay.

The REC will publish the latest Jobs Recovery Tracker on Friday, so keep an eye out for the most recentlabour market insight.