| The government has
announced new areas it will consider
reforming as part of its ongoing review of
employment red tape, including the rules
protecting employees’ terms and conditions
of employment when a business changes
hands.
Employment Relations Minister Edward
Davey, who outlined the plans on 11 May,
said: “The areas we are reviewing are
priorities for employers. We want to make
it easier for businesses to take on staff
and grow.
“We will be looking carefully at the
arguments for reform. Fairness for
individuals will not be compromised – but
where we can make legislation easier to
understand, improve efficiency and reduce
unnecessary bureaucracy we will.” The new
areas to be considered for reform are:
- compensation for
discrimination: with unlimited
levels of compensation for cases of
discrimination, the government says that
employers worry that high awards may
encourage people to take weak,
speculative or vexatious cases in the
hope of a large payout, which can lead
to employers settling such cases before
they reach a tribunal;
- collective redundancy rules:
the government says employers are
concerned that the current requirement
that consultation over collective
redundancy runs for a minimum period of
90 days is hindering their ability to
restructure efficiently and retain a
flexible workforce, with employers in
financial difficulty worrying about how
long they need to keep paying staff
after it has become clear that they need
to let them go;
- TUPE (Transfer Undertakings
Protection of Employment
Regulations)rules, which
protect employees’ terms and conditions
of employment when a business is
transferred from one owner to another.
The government says some businesses
believe that they are overly
bureaucratic.
LINK:
Employment law review |
