The Government have issued a draft code of practice relating or fire and rehire.
The new statutory code of practice will give employment tribunals the power to apply an uplift of up to 25 percent of an employee’s compensation if an employer unreasonably fails to comply with the code. The Government claim that the new code will protects workers’ rights whilst “respecting business flexibility”.
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “Our new Code will crack down on employers mistreating employees and sets out how they should behave when changing an employee’s contract. This announcement shows we are taking action to tackle fire and re-hire practices by balancing protections for workers with business flexibility”
The Government’s press statement continued: “The new Code clarifies how employers should behave when seeking to change employees’ terms and conditions, aiming to ensure employees are properly consulted and treated fairly.
Employers will now also need to explore alternatives to dismissal and re-engagement and have meaningful discussions with employees or trade unions to reach an agreed outcome.
The Code makes it clear to employers that they must not use threats of dismissal to pressurise employees into accepting new terms. They should also not raise the prospect of dismissal unreasonably early or threaten dismissal where it is not envisaged.”
But Unions hit back. Paul Nowak, general secretary of Trades Union Congress (TUC) argued that the Code would not prevent employers from using fire and rehire. He said: “This code lacks bite and is not going to deter bad employers, like P&O, from treating staff like disposable labour. We need far more robust legislation to protect people at work, tinkering around the edges is not going to cut it.”
A 2021 poll by TUC showed that one in 10 workers were threatened with fire and rehire during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nautilus director of organising Martyn Gray said: “Fire and rehire is a coercive practice used by employers to unilaterally weaken their employees’ terms and conditions, deliberately bypassing consultation with recognised unions.
Our message is simple: fire and rehire must be outlawed, nothing less is acceptable. Shortly after the public outrage of P&O Ferries mass-sacking in March 2022, the UK government announced it would take a series of actions to ensure this could never happen again.
‘While this code of practice would have increased the cost to P&O Ferries for carrying out their egregious actions, it would not have stopped it. This code of practice, put simply, does not meet the government’s own standard of ensuring another P&O Ferries cannot happen again.”
Commenting in the draft code, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham was scathing: “Fire and rehire is an abhorrent practice used by the worst of the worst to attack their own workers. It should obviously be against the law, with serious penalties attached. The idea that a ‘code of conduct’ is going to stop employers like P&O from doing this is just a bad joke.
But let me make it clear, any employers considering using ‘fire and rehire’ against my members should know that they will be taking on the whole of Unite with all of our resources and industrial power.”
Banning Fire & Rehire is a key part of Labour’s New Deal For Workers which says “Labour will end fire and rehire so workers can be safe in the knowledge that terms and conditions negotiated in good faith can’t be ripped up under threat of dismissal.”
A code of conduct will be ignored by employers determined to rid itself of its staff. Labour should ban the practice all together to stop the practice one and for all.