[UK] Considering alternatives to controversial ‘fire and rehire’ practice

In the wake of the economic damage inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, some UK employers have been accused of using the extremely controversial ‘fire and rehire’ practice to keep their heads above water, France 24 reports.

Fire and rehire is the practice of dismissing employees then re-engaging them on inferior terms. It first came to public attention in April when British Gas dismissed nearly 500 engineers following their refusal to accept new contracts.

In 2020, British Airways staff reportedly did battle with the airline's management over proposed fire and rehire schemes and in 2019 supermarket giant Asda faced a similar stand-off.

Bus drivers in Manchester, coffee workers at Jacobs Douwe Egberts and distribution centre employees for Tesco are currently engaged in disputes over new contracts denounced by unions as fire and rehire tactics.

Fire and rehire is technically permitted in the UK but the Prime Minister has called the practice "unacceptable" and trade unions and the Labour party are demanding a ban. Unite - the UK and Ireland's largest union - claimed fire and rehire is "ripping through workplaces like a disease".

The Trades Union Congress umbrella group surveyed 2,231 workers and found almost one in 10 were told to reapply for their jobs on worse terms or face dismissal. Young and ethnic-minority workers disproportionately affected.

Public industrial relations body the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) submitted a report on the practice in February but the government has yet to publish its findings.

Better alternatives

Chris Forde - co-director of the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change at the University of Leeds - said recruitment freezes, voluntary redundancies and furlough all offer better alternatives to the "last resort" of fire and rehire.

Mr Forde told AFP that the practice could "chip away further at the quite lightly regulated labour market in the UK", where zero-hour contracts and flexibility clauses are more prevalent than elsewhere.

Fire and rehire is already banned in Ireland and other European countries require sector-level consultation with unions and social partners when employers seek to terminate contracts.

"I cannot see any circumstances in which this is a right way to go," Mr Forde said.

"It is a basic assault on workers' rights and there are alternative means through which they (employers) might achieve the same outcomes."

Fire and rehire is practically unheard of in Germany as a result of legislation protecting workers on permanent contracts. Employers can resort to a similar practice with workers on fixed-term contracts but only in a limited set of circumstances.

According to Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau - labour law specialist at the University of Quebec in Montreal - fire and rehire is legal in Canada and the practice particularly affects non-unionised workers, powerless against employers enforcing it. 

Workers governed by the labour laws of Quebec, Nova Scotia and the Canada Labour Code, who represent just 10 per cent of the country's workforce, do enjoy some protection. However, employers can circumvent this by proving they are firing for economic rather than personal reasons, Ms Gesualdi-Fecteau told AFP.

In the US, where labour regulations are laxer, there has been little debate about the practice.

In the wake of the economic damage inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, some UK employers have been accused of using the extremely controversial ‘fire and rehire’ practice to keep their heads above water, France 24 reports.

Fire and rehire is the practice of dismissing employees then re-engaging them on inferior terms. It first came to public attention in April when British Gas dismissed nearly 500 engineers following their refusal to accept new contracts.

In 2020, British Airways staff reportedly did battle with the airline's management over proposed fire and rehire schemes and in 2019 supermarket giant Asda faced a similar stand-off.

Bus drivers in Manchester, coffee workers at Jacobs Douwe Egberts and distribution centre employees for Tesco are currently engaged in disputes over new contracts denounced by unions as fire and rehire tactics.

Fire and rehire is technically permitted in the UK but the Prime Minister has called the practice "unacceptable" and trade unions and the Labour party are demanding a ban. Unite - the UK and Ireland's largest union - claimed fire and rehire is "ripping through workplaces like a disease".

The Trades Union Congress umbrella group surveyed 2,231 workers and found almost one in 10 were told to reapply for their jobs on worse terms or face dismissal. Young and ethnic-minority workers disproportionately affected.

Public industrial relations body the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) submitted a report on the practice in February but the government has yet to publish its findings.

Better alternatives

Chris Forde - co-director of the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change at the University of Leeds - said recruitment freezes, voluntary redundancies and furlough all offer better alternatives to the "last resort" of fire and rehire.

Mr Forde told AFP that the practice could "chip away further at the quite lightly regulated labour market in the UK", where zero-hour contracts and flexibility clauses are more prevalent than elsewhere.

Fire and rehire is already banned in Ireland and other European countries require sector-level consultation with unions and social partners when employers seek to terminate contracts.

"I cannot see any circumstances in which this is a right way to go," Mr Forde said.

"It is a basic assault on workers' rights and there are alternative means through which they (employers) might achieve the same outcomes."

Fire and rehire is practically unheard of in Germany as a result of legislation protecting workers on permanent contracts. Employers can resort to a similar practice with workers on fixed-term contracts but only in a limited set of circumstances.

According to Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau - labour law specialist at the University of Quebec in Montreal - fire and rehire is legal in Canada and the practice particularly affects non-unionised workers, powerless against employers enforcing it. 

Workers governed by the labour laws of Quebec, Nova Scotia and the Canada Labour Code, who represent just 10 per cent of the country's workforce, do enjoy some protection. However, employers can circumvent this by proving they are firing for economic rather than personal reasons, Ms Gesualdi-Fecteau told AFP.

In the US, where labour regulations are laxer, there has been little debate about the practice.