The ARC rejects attacks by Ed Miliband on the recruitment industry
Ed
Miliband MP, and Labour leader has enjoyed a heightened profile after
his signature address to the party faithful at the annual Labour
conference in Manchester. In it, he has again criticised the recruitment
industry. The ARC is now exploring the roots of this negativity –
which stems from the assertion that access to work is denied to some UK
born jobseekers because providers run policies to only hire foreign
workers.
Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment
Consultancies (ARC) says “it is not reasonable to single out recruitment
agencies for doing the best for their clients while many EU workers
have been willing to work for less than their UK counterparts. When
agencies follow the instructions of their clients it does not mean they
pay illegal rates.
Mr Miliband had made similar comments last June implying that the
recruitment industry is set for a crackdown under any future Labour
government. In his speech on immigration to the Institute for Public Policy Research
Miliband asserted that ‘some recruitment agencies operating in Britain
are now effectively open solely to foreign workers. They exclude local
workers from their books’. He added that ‘It’s happening because it is a
part of our economy that has not been subject to sufficient rules and
regulations. We need to change it.’
On behalf of the ARC membership, Adrian Marlowe is writing to the
Labour Party for clarity and examples regarding the problems, and the
nature of any proposed changes. Adrian says; “An attack on agencies is
entirely unnecessary, as the recruitment industry is no more subject to
discrimination charges than any other sector. In fact, it performs a
sterling role for its clients in keeping the UK as an attractive and
flexible place in which to do business.”
This article first ran on The ARC news pages on October 4 2012.
Adrian, a highly experienced lawyer, founded Lawspeed in 1997. He is responsible for developing our extensive portfolio of products and services, including the widely used Lawspeed contract templates. Adrian is an expert on “recruitment law” and specialises in contracts, regulatory compliance, employment status and dispute handling. He is chair of the trade body the Association of Recruitment Consultancies, the only lawyer lead recruitment trade body in the UK. Adrian and his co-director Ravi devised Standards in Recruitment as a vehicle for helping drive up standards and compliance in the industry.
Adrian is our lead in discussions with the government over regulatory evolution. Apart from assisting with client support, Adrian’s primary role is research and development into methods of business delivery, our latest service Proterms being his most recent project. Adrian heads our IR35 lawyers team.