DMH Stallard’s Employment Team has welcomed some of the proposed reforms to employment law announced by Vince Cable on Wednesday (23 November).
The proposals include:
- Increasing the service qualification for unfair dismissal to 2 years
- Introducing fees for bringing a Tribunal claim
- No fault dismissals for small employers
- Simplification of dismissal procedures
- Greater use of ACAS conciliation prior to commencement of Tribunal proceedings
- Introducing “protected conversations” enabling an employer to raise employee relations issues freely
- Rapid Resolution schemes in the Tribunal for some claims
- Shortening of redundancy consultation periods
- Simplification of TUPE
Announcing his consultation, Cable said that the proposals are aimed at making it easier for employers to take on new staff.
The Government believes that cutting the cost and bureaucracy of laying off workers will help businesses to remain profitable through the economic downturn.
Cable said that a balance needed to be found between good employment rights for workers and creating an environment for “small companies in particular” which would encourage growth and expansion.
Among the most controversial of the plans is the scrapping of unfair dismissal laws and allowing employers to sack unproductive workers.
Simon Bellm, Head of the DMH Stallard’s Gatwick team, commented,
“The proposals focus on two main areas, the reduction of the number of Tribunal claims and the simplification of employee relations processes. We welcome the introduction of fees which is likely to be a significant deterrent to employees who currently present nuisance or unmeritorious claims.
We also welcome the simplification of employee relations processes, particularly the shortening of redundancy consultation periods. In our experience it’s the quality of consultation that is important not the length of time it takes. There is still a lot of detail to be resolved but overall the changes could have a significant impact.”
For further information please email Simon Bellm simon.bellm@dmhstallard.com
About DMH Stallard’s Employment Group
DMH Stallard’s Employment Group works hard to combine acknowledged technical excellence with an in-depth understanding of the organisations that we work with. Through this process we are able to understand our clients’ needs, identify likely challenges that they will face, and build long-term productive relationships with them.
Our structure enables us to provide cost effective support; giving guidance on strategic and complex issues, as well as helping resolve day-to-day operational matters. We deal with day-to-day advice on operational matters and sensitive Employment Tribunal litigation, generally conducting our own advocacy. To help our clients, we provide know-how training and update sessions, with a particular focus on taking a practical approach.
The Group works with many high profile national and international clients in both the public and private sectors
