CIPD launches ‘manifesto' for a recovery that lasts, with call for National Minimum Wage freeze for younger workers to strengthen efforts to tackle youth unemployment
5 January 2010 - The National Minimum Wage for younger workers should be frozen in absolute terms in 2010 to ensure welcome
government efforts to combat soaring youth unemployment are not fatally undermined just as the economy is beginning to recover, according to the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The call is contained in Platform 2010 - A Recovery That Works, the CIPD's
pre-election ‘manifesto for work'. Other calls include:
- Delay fiscal deficit reduction measures, but freeze public sector pay bill and conduct efficiency review of all quangos
- Abandon the increase in employers' NICs planned for 2011
- Remove the default retirement age and extend the right to request flexible working to all employees from 2013
- Extend the job guarantee scheme to the long-term unemployed aged over 50
- Lead a national awareness campaign on the importance of good people management skills among line managers.
The call for a freeze in the National Minimum Wage for younger workers recognises the efforts that have already been made by government and employers to tackle youth unemployment, but also takes into account expectations of a slow and weak recovery in the labour market.
John Philpott, CIPD Chief Economic Adviser, says:
"We strongly welcome the steps the Government has taken to avoid the creation of a ‘lost generation' in the UK. But freezing the National Minimum Wage for younger workers is necessary to ensure that all this good work is not fatally undermined just as the economy begins to recover. Pay restraint is likely to be a feature of the year ahead as employers and employees continue to work together to minimise job losses. It is right that younger workers lucky enough to have jobs should play their collective part in helping maximise the chances for those who do not.
"Platform 2010 sets out the CIPD's policy priorities for work in a year which is likely to see economic recovery -
but in a slow and faltering form. Our priorities combine the macroeconomic steps needed to create a platform for job creation and policies
aimed at improving the quality and availability of work for all."
Contact
HRM Guide