UK – Labour pledges to introduce ‘biggest extension’ of workers’ rights including a boost for the gig economy

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell today declared that a Labour Government will oversee the biggest overhaul of work place rights for 80 years, should Jeremy Corbyn win the next general election.

In a speech during the 150th Trades Union Congress, McDonnell said that Labour would extend workers' rights...

UK – More than half of businesses unsure about post-Brexit recruitment plans

Over half of UK businesses believe they don't have enough information to start making decisions about their post-Brexit recruitment strategy, according to a ‘Brexit Tracker’ which is part of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) and The Adecco Group’s Labour Market Outlook...

Spain – Overtime hours cost companies more than €3.1 billion in 2017, Randstad finds

Overtime hours in Spain in 2017 cost companies €3.11 billion, an increase of 9.4% compared to 2016 and the highest figure since €3.69 billion in 2008, according to data from Randstad Spain.

The data follows a report published last month which showed that Spanish employees worked nearly 147 million...

Europe – Staffing 100 Europe list of influencers now online

Staffing Industry Analysts released its 2018 Staffing 100 Europe list of the most influential people in the European workforce solutions ecosystem. In its sixth year, the annual list recognizes a diverse group of individuals and lauds them for their roles in taking the industry forward.

This list is not...

UK – Nakama Group contractor revenue tumbles and loss deepens after Australian business struggles

Specialist recruitment services provider Nakama Group (NAK: AIM) reported results for the year ending 31 March 2018 with revenue of £16.8 million, a decrease of 25.4% compared to £22.5 million last year.

Revenue in the full year was impacted by difficulty in the group’s Australian subsidiary, which...

UK – Sharp growth in job vacancies leads to higher starting salaries in August

Staff vacancies in the UK continued to rise at a historically marked pace in August, leading to starting salaries growing at its second-fastest rate in over three years, according to the latest Report on Jobs from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

Recruitment consultancies signalled a further...

UK – ‘Measuring Good Work’ report focussing on Taylor Review and Good Work Plan

The Measuring Job Quality Working Group, led by the Royal Society of Arts and the Carnegie UK, published a report in response to the recommendations of Matthew Taylor’s Modern Employment Review and the UK government’s Good Work Plan.

The recommendations in the report detail the findings of the Measuring...

UK – Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority arrest three on suspicion of human trafficking

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has arrested three Romanian nationals on suspicion of human trafficking offences in Derbyshire, with four potential victims safeguarded by officers.

A 17-year-old man and two women aged 33 and 36 were arrested by GLAA investigators at a residential address...

Netherlands – Government scraps controversial plan to reduce minimum wage for disabled workers (DutchNews.nl)

The Dutch government has abandoned its plan to allow companies to pay people with a disability less than the legal minimum wage after concluding the process would be too complicated, reports DutchNews.nl. Earlier this year the Dutch human rights commission condemned the plan and called it discriminatory...

UK – Government scraps promised tax cut for self-employed workers

A planned tax cut worth about £150 per person has been scrapped for 2.7 million self-employed workers by the UK government.

The government had originally planned to remove Class 2 National Insurance contributions (paid by self-employed people with profits of £6,205 or more a year) in April but the move...