{"text":[[{"start":8.96,"text":"The UK government has revealed that its plans to crack down on zero-hours contracts could cost businesses up to £3bn a year."}],[{"start":16.9,"text":"Labour’s Employment Rights Act has caused a clash between business and unions over the number of hours staff can work before employers have to legally offer them a contract with guaranteed hours."}],[{"start":27.74,"text":"The Department for Business and Trade on Wednesday released a consultation showing that employers face an annual bill of between £350mn and £2.9bn per year, depending on which threshold of hours is decided upon."}],[{"start":41.92,"text":"About £1.2bn of the estimated costs are due to new rules that would force bosses to pay compensation for cancelled shifts."}],[{"start":49.74,"text":"The British Chambers of Commerce said the government’s previous estimates that the entire employment reforms would cost £1bn had been “blown out of the water”."}],[{"start":58.7,"text":"The government’s analysis claims the reforms could deliver a £10bn boost to the economy, largely due to improved wellbeing, workforce participation and productivity."}],[{"start":68.64,"text":"As a result, the net average cost from the reforms could be lowered to between £300mn and £1.4bn, it said."}],[{"start":76.44,"text":"The government has said it is minded to set the threshold for what it considers “low-hour contracts” at between eight and 20 hours per week. However, unions have been pushing for the new rules to apply up to 48 hours per week and to any worker on a variable contract. Businesses have warned this would capture almost all temporary workers, not just low-hour workers, and have argued it would be harder to hire students and seasonal staff."}],[{"start":100.68,"text":"Businesses have been warning that the extra regulation, on top of increases in the national minimum wage and a £24bn tax rise through national insurance contributions, has already made hiring workers more expensive at a time of a youth unemployment crisis. The British Chambers of Commerce said the increased cost to business was a “hammer blow”."}],[{"start":119.2,"text":"Matthew Percival, CBI future of work and skills director, said: “The big difference in cost between the government’s preferred options reinforces why business think it is vital that ministers set the low-hours threshold at eight hours per week and that even more expensive options are ruled out.”"}],[{"start":135.92,"text":"The BCC and CBI both called on the government for a “proper tripartite negotiation” between government, unions and business on how to implement any proposals."}],[{"start":145.88,"text":"Andrew Griffith, shadow business secretary, said: “With a growing crisis of youth unemployment and businesses facing record taxes, [Andy] Burnham urgently needs to reverse Angela Rayner’s union-inspired ‘back to the 1970s’ plans.”"}],[{"start":159.84,"text":"Jonathan Reynolds, who has returned to his post as business secretary under new prime minister Burnham, had told the FT that he was in favour of bringing unions and business together to reach a compromise."}],[{"start":171.4,"text":"A spokesperson for the Trades Union Congress said: “The government should ignore cynical attempts to blame new workers’ rights laws on a Neet [not in education, employment or training] crisis that long predates them.” They added that the reforms brought the UK into line with the rest of Europe and would ensure predictability for workers and help the economy by boosting worker incomes."}],[{"start":193.12,"text":"A government spokesman said: “These reforms will give workers in every postcode greater income security and predictability of hours, and while no final decisions have been made, we’re consulting to get the detail right and ensure this works in the real world.”"}],[{"start":211.92,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786589673_7236.mp3"}