The public sector should learn lessons from businesses that struggled during the recession by introducing shorter-working weeks or longer holidays, according to a business group.
Major employers including Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, JCB, BT and British Airways chose to impose cuts to working hours or pay freezes during the height of the recession to hang onto key staff.
During previous downturns, businesses shed staff in their thousands only to struggle to recruit suitable people once the upturn came
The CBI is urging public sector managers to learn from the private sector to make sure flexible working is widely taken up.
Richard Lambert, director-general, said: 'The employment relations landscape has changed dramatically because of the recession. When industrial unrest might have been considered inevitable, instead we saw private sector employers and staff working together to find ways to cut costs and safeguard jobs.'
He added: 'If the public sector could take some of the hard-learned lessons from the private sector, it could help minimise some of the pain. With good communication and co-operation between public sector employers and unions, we hope to avoid the potential for industrial action.'
The CBI has also called on the Government to introduce new strike ballot rules to make it harder for public sector workers to walk out following any disputes over jobs or pay.
On Monday the body said industrial action should not go ahead unless 40pc of the balloted union members agreed. Former action, including last June’s tube walk out and the PCS strike in March over changes to redundancy pay would not have been allowed to have gone ahead under these rules, it said.
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