Overview of the labour market [June 2012]

Inevitably interest in the Scottish labour market continues to focus on the levels and trends in employment and unemployment and again we return to these themes. In addition the UK Government has announced proposals to regionalise public sector pay and a number of public sector trade unions continue to take action of proposed changes to pensions and work arrangements (both discussed in the Public Sector employment section of this Commentary). Attention again focussed on senior executive remuneration with a number of well publicised shareholder reactions to remuneration proposals, as yet not Government proposals have been forthcoming. However, the employment law proposals contained in the Beecroft Report attracted the most critical comment, both within the cabinet with Vince Cable particularly critical of proposals for "no fault" dismissals, and with criticism from employment lawyers and trade unions and more generally in the wider community. The Beecroft report had been commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
as part of a wider programme to simplify bureaucracy and to identify areas of employment law that could be improved or simplified as part of a series of measures to stimulate employment, especially in the private sector. A number of these recommendations have already emerged as proposed reforms