Government report urges unfair dismissal scrappage
Employment Law & HR update 27/10/2011
A leaked report commissioned by David Cameron has called for
lazy employees to lose their right to make unfair dismissal
claims.
The Downing Street report said that, by removing the right to
make a claim, those unproductive workers would be replaced by
capable staff, thus boosting the growth of the economy.
The report also suggests that, under the current rules
surrounding unfair dismissal claims, certain workers are allowed to
take advantage of the system as they are hard to get rid of.
The current rules mean that employees who feel they were
unfairly let go from their jobs can file an unfair dismissal claim
providing they had been in the position for over 12 months. As a
result of this, some firms are thought to be wary of taking on new
staff in order to expand, in case the individuals prove
unproductive and are then impossible to sack.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the memo read, “The rules both
make it difficult to prove that someone deserves to be dismissed,
and demand a process for doing so which is so lengthy and complex
that it is hard to implement.
“This makes it too easy for employees to claim they have been
unfairly treated and to gain significant compensation,” added the
report.
The report – which was written by venture capitalist Adrian
Beecroft and has not yet been made public – comes as part of the
coalition government's planned commitment to reforming employment
laws.
However, when questioned about the leaked memo, the government
has said that, currently, the suggested changes to unfair dismissal
rules contained within the report are 'unlikely' to be
implemented.
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