[UK] Think tank urges rethink of day-one unfair dismissal rights

In the UK, a think tank has urged the government to rethink its plans to introduce day-one unfair dismissal rights under the Employment Rights Bill, Personnel Today reports.

Although the Resolution Foundation is broadly in support of the measures outlined in the Employment Rights Bill, it describes day-one unfair dismissal rights as offering “little obvious gain”. The bill is due to receive Royal Assent in the coming weeks.

Protection against unfair dismissal currently comes into effect after two years’ service. Under the new legislation, employees will reportedly gain the right to claim this protection from the outset.

Some provisions for a probationary period, or “initial period of employment”, have been made.

According to the government’s implementation roadmap for the new legislation, unfair dismissal protections will not come into force until 2027 and will be subject to prior consultation.

The Resolution Foundation has praised a number of aspects of the Bill, including reducing job-related insecurity with measures to stop employers cancelling shifts at short notice and providing workers with guaranteed hours.

The think tank reportedly stated that UK employment law “starts from a fairly extreme position compared to other rich countries” since it does comparatively little to protect workers financially when they cannot work.

It added that there are few constraints on employers around making dismissals, and that the UK’s record on labour market enforcement is poor.

In his analysis, principal economist Nye Cominetti said, “This low-protection/low-regulation starting position means the reforms in the ERB will mainly make the UK less of an international outlier, rather than moving us to the other end of the scale.” 

On unfair dismissal, however, he stated that introducing day-one rights would “take the UK from one end of the international scale to the other”, and could potentially put employers off hiring people in the first place.

The think tank reportedly argues that having a qualifying period would allow employers to determine whether a new hire is a good match. The majority of OECD countries use periods of around three months, and only four have qualifying periods for unfair dismissal protection of more than six months. 

The Resolution Foundation suggests that the UK should reduce the period from two years to three or six months.

“This strikes the right balance in the protection-flexibility trade-off. It conforms both with international norms and with how employers themselves operate,” Mr Cominetti said.

The think tank contends that this would particularly help young adults, whose employment prospects are less stable than older workers and would benefit the tribunal system, which is struggling with a huge backlog of claims. Day-one rights would only “benefit employment lawyers” it added.

Source: Personnel Today

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

In the UK, a think tank has urged the government to rethink its plans to introduce day-one unfair dismissal rights under the Employment Rights Bill, Personnel Today reports.

Although the Resolution Foundation is broadly in support of the measures outlined in the Employment Rights Bill, it describes day-one unfair dismissal rights as offering “little obvious gain”. The bill is due to receive Royal Assent in the coming weeks.

Protection against unfair dismissal currently comes into effect after two years’ service. Under the new legislation, employees will reportedly gain the right to claim this protection from the outset.

Some provisions for a probationary period, or “initial period of employment”, have been made.

According to the government’s implementation roadmap for the new legislation, unfair dismissal protections will not come into force until 2027 and will be subject to prior consultation.

The Resolution Foundation has praised a number of aspects of the Bill, including reducing job-related insecurity with measures to stop employers cancelling shifts at short notice and providing workers with guaranteed hours.

The think tank reportedly stated that UK employment law “starts from a fairly extreme position compared to other rich countries” since it does comparatively little to protect workers financially when they cannot work.

It added that there are few constraints on employers around making dismissals, and that the UK’s record on labour market enforcement is poor.

In his analysis, principal economist Nye Cominetti said, “This low-protection/low-regulation starting position means the reforms in the ERB will mainly make the UK less of an international outlier, rather than moving us to the other end of the scale.” 

On unfair dismissal, however, he stated that introducing day-one rights would “take the UK from one end of the international scale to the other”, and could potentially put employers off hiring people in the first place.

The think tank reportedly argues that having a qualifying period would allow employers to determine whether a new hire is a good match. The majority of OECD countries use periods of around three months, and only four have qualifying periods for unfair dismissal protection of more than six months. 

The Resolution Foundation suggests that the UK should reduce the period from two years to three or six months.

“This strikes the right balance in the protection-flexibility trade-off. It conforms both with international norms and with how employers themselves operate,” Mr Cominetti said.

The think tank contends that this would particularly help young adults, whose employment prospects are less stable than older workers and would benefit the tribunal system, which is struggling with a huge backlog of claims. Day-one rights would only “benefit employment lawyers” it added.

Source: Personnel Today

(Links and quotes via original reporting)