As an independent, experienced and trusted recruitment solutions partner, Clarity Outsourcing Group explores how businesses can utilise strategic workforce planning, in an ever-changing employment landscape.

Over the last few months, with the raft of government announcements on various pieces of key employment legislation – and subsequent news headlines causing confusion and panic – employers face uncertainty when it comes to planning for the future. However, the reality is more straightforward. When it comes to navigating employment law changes, with careful consideration and by setting out clear and defined objectives, businesses can readily adapt by utilising strategic planning.

In the main, for employers alike, this means reviewing and updating existing policies rather than completely overhauling their practices. By breaking down these changes with Clarity Outsourcing Group into practical and actionable steps, companies can understand exactly what they need to do to stay compliant in 2025 and beyond.

The Employment Rights Bill

A key announcement back in March of this year, the Employment Rights Bill (which will become the Employment Rights Act) is at the forefront of these changes. The press has been buzzing with information about it, but some of that information has been misleading. The committee’s report highlights the complexity and sheer scale of this bill; however, we are still awaiting further detail as to exactly what these changes will mean.

Being in the talent business, one of the proposed changes within the bill that most piqued our interest details amendments to zero-hours contracts. Clarity Outsourcing Group supports the government prioritising bringing forward its proposals on worker status to ensure this area is not exploited as a loophole, when the bill reaches Royal Assent. However, there is a flag that over-regulating the flexible work market could alienate and exclude those who choose to work flexibly and hinder professional contractors in pursuing their careers. In today’s world of work, it is well documented that people want and need to work in different ways.

At this stage, before government has confirmed finer details, it is simply a case of wait and see. As these measures in the bill are targeted, it is crucial that a careful and considered approach is taken so that agency workers can be properly consulted with as to their needs going forward. We believe our ‘temporary talent’ is just as valuable an asset as its non-permanent counterpart. Indeed, the flexible labour market continues to be a success story of our economy – benefitting employers and employees alike, around the world.

One thing is for certain; regardless of what will ultimately be decided by government (with further sittings due to take place in May and June), organisations will need greater control and visibility of their workforce, the ability to standardise costs and to create a diverse, multi-skilled talent pool of workers.

Due to our status and 20 year+ track record as a ‘neutral vendor’ recruitment specialist, Clarity Outsourcing Group is acutely aware of the myriad of challenges organisations face when it comes to the management and engagement of their non-permanent workforce. We consult with and support our client organisations to proactively plan for new legislation and take their workforce strategy to the next level. A demonstration of our drive to innovate is our consultancy on temp-to-perm conversion schemes and workforce modelling – helping temporary workers (and our clients hiring talent) to secure permanent, sustainable employment. Alongside this, currently discussions are taking place regarding the forthcoming changes to the Employment Rights Bill – Clarity Outsourcing Group is working closely with our clients and agency stakeholders to provide future-proof solutions.

New net migration policy

Another key piece of legislation coming down the line is government’s revised UK net migration policy, initially discussed in May this year. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised in the ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’ whitepaper that immigration will be “controlled, selective and fair”. However, again the devil is in the details – before governments set out practical objectives and their expectations on businesses, the viability of the revised net migration policy will continue to come into question. Clear and defined intentions as to how this new plan surrounding reducing net migration can be achieved will be critical to ensuring the success of its implementation.

Clarity Outsourcing Group is continuing to support our client organisations when it comes to attracting and retaining the best talent, with total assurance of compliance. For a long time, in collaboration with our like-minded panel of recruitment agency partners, we have been working with our client organisations to build talent pools of exceptional, multi-skilled staff – accurately assign relevant work, then rate their performance through peer review. This is all done from one system – our marketing-leading VMS – giving employers an unparalleled window into their temporary workforces. Many organisations are now using new technology, systems and smarter processes to gain greater visibility over their use of contingent workers, enabling them to instantly retrieve everything from detailed candidate information to the number of hours each worker has undertaken.

This ‘reserve pool’ of talent gives organisations flexibility and access to a ready-made pool of quality, compliant and appropriately qualified staff who can be called up at any time. In turn, this enables organisations to spot spikes in demand, identify surplus areas and seamlessly shrink/swell capacity in sync with demand.

With these net migration policy changes on the horizon – set to impact businesses and workers across all sectors – client organisations are looking to Clarity Outsourcing Group to supply the talent needed to keep their services running. Our transparent, innovative and sustainable recruitment solution ensures a continual stream of 24/7 quality talent at the right price. To help in navigating these changes, we are supporting employers when it comes to focusing on their domestic workforce strategies, demonstrating their commitment to training and upskilling and exploring alternative recruitment pathways.

By partnering with Clarity Outsourcing Group, our client organisations are taking a proactive approach to the management and engagement of their workforces – strengthening their resilience, avoiding gaps in their workforces and ultimately focusing on continuous improvement.

Updated guidance on Modern Slavery Act reporting

Back in March of this year, the UK Government published updated guidance on the reporting obligations set out in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “MSA”). For now, it seems the Home Office’s focus is on improving transparency in supply chain provisions in the Modern Slavery Act, in ways that do not require new primary legislation. However, it has been argued that improving the effectiveness of these transparency measures will eventually require new primary legislation. This could include introducing penalties for non-compliant businesses and extending the transparency reporting requirements to public sector organisations.

When it comes to bringing total transparency to the fore, as a pioneering and trusted expert in our field, Clarity Outsourcing Group is well versed in this area. Our knowledge and experience are vast and far-ranging when it comes to the provision of contractors to end clients (directly or indirectly) for the delivery of services. As such, we are a people business and recognise the importance of preventing slavery in our organisation. Clarity Outsourcing Group takes a zero-tolerance approach to slavery – we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships.

Furthermore, we are partnered with non-for-profit organisation Stronger Together. Through this collaboration, our values are perfectly aligned in that Stronger Together is also an impact-driven organisation; they seek to help companies by providing practical advice and resources and ultimately are focused on helping to create a world where all workers are recruited responsibly and have fair work free from exploitation.

We have been working in tandem with our client organisations and panel of recruitment agency partners to explore how we can collectively go even further to address modern slavery in supply chains. Recommendations including but not limited to: considering where you stand from a business and cultural perspective; undertaking supplier due diligence; introducing/reviewing existing workplace modern slavery policies and codes of conduct; appointing a modern slavery champion/s in your organisation and ensuring you are delivering clear key messages (both internally and externally) surrounding modern slavery and how all can be aligned to detect and mitigate this.

Next Steps

In summary, although it is impossible to anticipate all the legislative changes that your organisation might face in the future, appropriate and thorough contingency planning is one of the key actions your business can undertake to mitigate for such events.

Speak to our team

If you would like to understand more about how Clarity Outsourcing Group can support your organisation with our future-proof, compliant and innovative workforce solutions.

Contact the Clarity Team

info@clarityog.com