We need to grow the economy, not the regulatory statute book

During the 2024 UK general election campaign, I have to say I was comforted – and not a little relieved – to see the most-likely-incoming opposition front bench promising a business-friendly policy agenda. In the words of the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves, spoken in front of a glorious Rolls-Royce jet engine, the Starmer government wanted to make the UK a ‘pro-growth, pro-business’ environment.  

Nine weeks into the new administration, I must confess I am somewhat disheartened – and not a little concerned – to see the government making it a priority to force companies to offer a four-day working week. It’s even been mooted that the proposed Employment Rights Bill will create a new right not to reply to emails in the middle of the night. (Has anyone ever actually been sacked for not replying to an email at 2am?)  

Why are employers being cast as unreasonable ogres, constantly sending late-night emails requiring instant replies and making everyone work five days a week? I feel duty bound to speak up for them and for the value of an employer-employee relationship based on trust, not an ever-expanding regulatory framework. 

Businesses need employees and people need jobs 

Let’s go back to basics for a moment. In very simple terms, a business is a collection of people working together to achieve (whisper it) a profit. Throughout my work for the Jobs Foundation, a charity I co-founded to support people in hardship with jobs and training, one recurring truth from the many conversations I’ve had rings clear: A business is only as good as the people who work for it. I’ve lost track of the number of times we’ve been told this.  

Without good people who are being trained, incentivised and looked after, a business will never thrive. It will barely function, in fact. This is one of the reasons why capitalism works so well. Pay and profit motivates. To attract and keep the talent they need to succeed in a competitive market, businesses must treat their people well. In turn, employees are rewarded with jobs, success of their own, and the means to support themselves and their families. 

When considering beefed up employment rights, should we not first give credit to this basic and by-and-large successful relationship construct? A construct that has lifted more people out of poverty, via jobs, than anything else. 

Employees have choices and they aren’t afraid to make them 

In the workplace, people vote with their feet. If a company treats people badly, employees are likely to start leaving. I believe in the free market because I believe in the individual’s right – and ability – to make choices for themselves.  

Every year, millions of people clearly demonstrate that if their employer doesn’t treat them well, they can and will find another job. So why is our new government so afraid to leave people to make those choices for themselves? Are businesses really behaving so appalling towards their employees that we need the government to intervene in such a heavy-handed way?  

Employers are not the villain 

The worst aspect of this legislation is it promotes the idea that ‘the employer’ is some kind of cartoon villain in people’s lives. A deeply incorrect notion already fuelled by a torrent of annoying social media content encouraging everyone to become a ‘digital nomad’, ‘live for the weekend’, and ‘work flexibly’ to an almost acrobatic degree.  

Tantalisingly, the social media narrative offers a tiny percentage of people the hallowed role of becoming an influencer – paid large sums to turn their entire life into content and blend it with an array of products and brands. Giant lips a prerequisite please – don’t worry if you don’t recognise yourself in the mirror in five years’ time, I’m sure it was worth it. 

Back in unfiltered reality, most people earn a living by doing a job with regular hours where they exchange their skills and effort for a monthly salary. Getting a job and building a successful career over time has been the number one route out of poverty since the dawn of the modern economy.  

We need trust, not regulation 

Further regulation of the employer-employee relationship will only break down the trust between them and put job creation at risk. Employers are less likely to bring new people into their workforce – particularly vulnerable people who might need more care and attention during onboarding – when their ways of working are undermined by regulation and hamstrung by an imposed work culture. 

Personally, I’m not sold on mandating that companies must offer a four-day working week on condensed hours. Or, indeed, shaming businesses into a culture of appropriate email hours. As a working mother, the flexibility of working in the evenings is often a life saver for me. If I send someone an email at 9pm, I don’t expect them to reply.  

For people who have a legitimate need for differing working hours, most businesses are willing to engage with these requests. They do so knowing the people involved and sensibly avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. And you know what, if your employer won’t engage with you, then find a job elsewhere that does give you what you want. That’s the beauty of the system. We break it at our peril.