Angela Rayner’s employment law reforms will act as a 5 billion “stealth tax” on workers, a report has warned.

The Deputy Prime Minister is planning a raft of reforms that will make it easier for workers to strike and introduce new “day-one” rights against unfair dismissal and zero-hours contracts.

But they will also work to suppress wages, effectively taxing employees by increasing costs for their bosses, according to analysis by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

The think tank said smaller pay rises will equate to a 5 billion “stealth payroll tax”, based on the Government’s own impact assessment of the cost on workers.

Business groups have already raised the alarm over the reforms, which they say will make firms more reluctant to hire workers.

The Employment Rights Bill, which returns to the Commons on Monday, contains measures to make it easier for workers to form unions and launch strike action.

Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said they would result in 1970s-style union militancy and hammer struggling businesses.

“Labour’s love-in with the unions is dragging Britain back to the worst economic mistakes of the 1970s,” he said.

“The so-called Employment Rights Bill is nothing more than a Trojan horse for union power and state interference.

“Far from protecting workers, it will price people out of jobs, deterring investment and sending small businesses to the wall.”

In June, the Conservatives pledged to scrap the Bill if they return to office,...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilAFBVV95cUxOZ1oxZ0pLUDZzRFZOTE9JUS1V...