Posted: Monday 10 January 2011
Proposals To Make It Easier To Sack Employees
I’ve blogged previously on the reported plans of the Coalition Government to give businesses more flexibility in respect of hiring and firing employees - Possibility Of Unfair Dismissal Qualifying Period Increasing From 1 Year To 2 Years.
It has been reported in the media, including for example in the Telegraph with their somewhat bullish headline - Firms Get Powers To Sack The Slackers, that changes are potentially afoot for. Today sees a meeting at Downing Street with business bosses, which may be the precursor for the launch of public consultation on a variety of issues. These are said to include:-
- Increasing the threshold for employees to bring a claim for unfair dismissal from one year to two years’ continuous employment;
- Establishing a fee to lodge a Tribunal claim (which will be repaid if the claim is successful);
- Altering the extent of an employer’s liability to pay Statutory Sick Pay to their employees; and
- Excluding small businesses from certain aspects of current employment law.
Most of these possible reforms have been mentioned in the media before, but this appears to be an indication that changes may be in the offing. As always the devil will be in the detail but I will keep you updated once the position becomes clearer.
