The
Industrial Society has called for employment contracts to be modernised to meet
the changes in society and working practices.
In
its report Cool Contracts – modernising employment contracts, the society
has urged wide-ranging changes in employment contracts.
It
claims that people need increased flexibility over how they work at different
stages of their lives; far better statutory minimum notice; strengthened
entitlements to references and an end to harsh ‘restraint’ contract clauses
meant to protect their previous companies’ trade secrets.
The
report calls for a number of legislative changes to ‘customise’ employment
contracts for modern conditions.
These
include a legal entitlement for employees to change the terms of their
contracts for domestic or personal reasons.
The
Industrial Society also believes employees should be entitled to a fair and
reasonable reference as an integral part of the employment contract.
Yvonne
Bennion, co-author of the report, said, “We often take our employment contracts
for granted and don’t check them until it’s too late. The contract terms really matter when the chips are down.”
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www.industrialsociety.co.uk
Karen
Higginbottom
