BUSINESS Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has denied a rift with Deputy PM Angela Rayner — but said the Government will resist giving firms a set timeframe for workers’ rights over probation.
The fudge comes as Labour sets itself a 100-day deadline to reveal its radical reforms for staff in an employment bill linked to its “Make Work Pay” manifesto pledges.
The changes target “zero-hours” contracts, probationary periods, giving employees rights from day one and default flexible working.
There had been reports that after tensions between Mr Reynolds and Ms Rayner on probationary periods, the two were planning to allow companies to keep new staff on probation for six months.
Mr Reynolds told The Sun in an exclusive interview in Manchester the bill will include a “maximum period” for probation, but this will be consulted on with firms after it is set out by October 12.
He said: “We’ll consult on the timescales because it’s a very variable practice.
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“I mean some jobs see probation periods for a month, for some it’s a year.”
And he claimed: “Honestly, there is no disagreement between me and Angela.”
But the Secretary of State did imply he was not as swayed by union demands.
He said: “I’m the voice of business in the Cabinet.
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“I have a lot of information, more so than other colleagues, about what businesses are facing.
“So I always feel my role is to put that across.”
Mr Reynolds acknowledged probationary periods were a “huge part” of Labour’s plans to give workers full rights from “day one”, rather than the current two years.
Any change to probation will be a big shift, from firms setting their own staff contract terms to a statutory obligation.
He said he realised companies needed probationary periods at the beginning of employment because “sometimes it doesn’t work out on both sides”.
He explained: “Do companies need a different process at the beginning? Yes — I totally understand that.”
Companies have raised concerns that making probationary periods too short will lead to them taking fewer chances on hiring.
One chief executive warned it could see a regression to “bosses hiring people who are just like them because that will seem less risky”.
The Business Secretary had a call with business groups on Wednesday over proposed changes to zero-hour contracts.
Around 40 per cent of small hospitality firms use them and say having a flexible workforce is essential.
Mr Reynolds said people who work regularly for a company should have the “right to a contract that reflects that”.
He said in cases where companies cancelled shifts at the last minute and denied workers’ earnings, there was “too much risk on the individual”.
The Government yesterday announced a crackdown on late payments to small businesses, which those firms welcomed as solving a huge cash crunch issue.
However, they are nervous about the worker changes and have warned they do not have the same HR departments or budgets for the bureaucracy.
Mr Reynolds scotched hopes there would be different thresholds for small firms when considering employee rights, as there is on VAT or business rates.
The Business Secretary said having a two-tier system would only increase complexity and could stifle firms’ ambitions to grow beyond thresholds.
He said: “If you think about the VAT threshold, businesses don’t want to grow past it.
“The principle has always been employment law is universal. It’s not dependent on the size of business you work for.”
The Government is also pushing to make flexible working the default — just as Amazon this week ordered staff back to the office five days a week.
Mr Reynolds said “I’m not mandating anything to anyone. I want flexible working to be made available to a bigger group of people.
“There will be times where it’s not the right thing. I mean, I was a trainee solicitor here in Manchester.
“You learn from being around other people. You need people in the office.
“But sometimes you need a little bit of flexibility to balance what’s going on in the rest of your life.
“If you have some of those arrangements in place, and you’re opening yourself up to a bigger group of talent, that’s got to be a good thing for your business.”
CHEAPER OCADO’S A WINNER
LOWER prices have lured shoppers back to Ocado, as the online grocer boosted its sales expectations for the year.
Ocado Retail, a joint venture between Marks & Spencer and the Ocado tech group, saw a 15.5 per cent rise in third- quarter sales to £658million.
Selling prices at Ocado fell by 0.2 per cent, compared with food inflation of 2 per cent.
The service now has one million customers, up 10.3 per cent from this time last year, a sign shoppers have switched back from cheaper rivals.
Analysts say the easing off of working from home helped, as shoppers have less time to do a big in-person shop.
Ocado is delivering 437,000 orders a week compared with 381,000 a year ago, and market research group Kantar says it is the fastest-growing grocer.
Ocado Retail boss Hannah Gibson said it now offers customers a greater variety of products and M&S food.
TIME TO GET LIPPY
THE “lipstick effect” is alive and well amid a beauty boom.
The trend describes a rise in spending on smaller luxuries when shoppers have less cash to spend on pricier treats.
While a quarter of shoppers have cut back on clothes and accessories, half still say health and beauty purchases are “essential”, research from Barclays shows.
But a third of Brits are still switching to “perfume dupes” to save cash spent on scent.
NEXT BOSS FEARS POLICY ‘MISTAKES’
THE boss of Next has warned the Government it would be a “mistake to use one rule for all professions” in its workers’ reforms.
Lord Wolfson, chief executive of the FTSE 100 retailer, told The Sun his verdict on the shake-up rested on the details of day one rights, probation and flexible working.
He said the push to make working from home a default option misunderstood the different ranges of jobs.
“There are a lot of roles where you can work from home,” he said.
“But there are others where teams need to get together to look at the quality and fit of clothes.
“It would be an enormous mistake to use one rule for all professions.”
His comments came as Next, which is targeting £1billion profits this year, warned that losing a recent £30million equal pay case could mean store closures.
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An employment tribunal ruled last month its mostly female shop workers should be paid the same as largely male warehouse workers.
Next, which is appealing against the ruling, said the cost rise meant some stores would “no longer be viable”.
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