ASI comments on Miliband's proposal to limit zero-hours contracts feature in The Telegraph
Dr Eamonn Butler's comments on Ed Miliband's proposal to crackdown on zero-hour contracts featured in The Telegraph:
The Adam Smith Institute, said Labour's plan would "harm the very people it is intended to help"."The UK's economic success is founded on labour market flexibility, and politicians need to be very careful before messing with it," Dr Eamonn Butler, director, said.
"About two thirds of people on zero-hours contracts are happy with the hours they get—limiting the contracts they can sign hamstrings not just the firms that employ them but their own employment options.
"On top of this, we'd expect this labour market straitjacket to cut, rather than boost, productivity. The UK's productivity troubles are real, but they're also so hard to diagnose that the issue is known as the 'productivity puzzle'.
"The UK's labour market flexibility is the key reason we have been able to weather such a sharp recession and slow recovery while nevertheless hitting the highest ever employment level and rate. Chipping away at this is dangerous and counterproductive."