CBI unveils package of measures to sustain companies and jobs

The proposals include embracing more flexible working, blocking regulations that will cost jobs and changing industrial relations legislation.

In a new report, Making Britain the Place to Work, the CBI highlights the importance of the UK's flexible labour market and the key role it played in minimising job losses during the recession.

It said employers want to build on that flexibility, which has benefited businesses and the workforce, by supporting the right to request flexible working to all employees.

On the regulation front, the CBI said Government should introduce a sustainable employment test to ensure that any future employment laws help, rather than hinder, the creation of new jobs.

It also said strikes should require a higher bar of support, to prevent strikes going ahead based on a relatively small turnout of particularly active members.

The CBI said the consultation period for collective redundancies should be shortened from 90 days to 30 days to reduce uncertainty for staff and allow employers to reshape their workforces swiftly to respond to significant falls in demand.

John Cridland, CBI deputy director-general, said: "As we enter a period of fragile recovery, we need to do everything we can to create a jobs market that works for Britain, and to ensure Britain is the place to work.

"To position the UK for growth, any new employment legislation must pass a simple test of whether it will encourage job creation. We also need to look at changing the rules around industrial action. Strikes cause misery. They prevent ordinary people going about their daily lives, whether it's getting to work or getting the kids to school.

"Strikes also cost the economy dearly and undermine our efforts to help rebuild the economy. That is why we believe the bar needs to be raised, so strike action is not possible unless 40 per cent of the workforce has actively voted to withdraw its labour."

Mr Cridland added: "During the recession, many firms had to restructure their businesses to survive. No company takes the decision to let go of staff lightly, but when businesses reach the stage where demand has fallen off a cliff and redundancies are inevitable, dragging out the process over three months just prolongs the agony for employees.

"We believe shortening the consultation period to a month would spare staff from some of this uncertainty, while allowing companies to act quickly to protect the longer-term health of the business."