Labour employment laws scrutinised

The Government's pre-election intention to review employment law has been boosted by a new study which reveals widespread indifference to a number of laws brought in by New Labour.

Paternity leave, working time regulations and rules governing the employment of temporary workers have all been targeted in the report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG, which uncovered mixed feelings among UK employers about laws introduced since 1997.

In particular, the CIPD has called for a repeal of the Working Time Regulations after finding they had negligible value in limiting unhealthy workplace behaviour.

Paternity leave was also singled out in the report, with only a minority of businesses offering fathers full pay during the two-week statutory paternity period.

The introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations in October 2011 have also been subject to scrutiny, with only 13% of employers saying the measures would be helpful.

However, any attempt by the Government to review the Agency Workers Regulations will be overshadowed by its accompanying EU directive.