EMPLOYMENT – YOU SAID, WE DID (23 November)
Last month, the Government announced its plans to radicaly reform the employment law system – cutting unnecessary demands on business while safeguarding workers’ rights. The full BIS press notice can be found here.
Your comments on our Employment Red Tape Challenge theme were used to produce this set of deregulatory proposals – and of the
159 regulations examined in the theme, more than 70 (over 40%), are to be merged, simplified or scrapped. Full details on this package can be found here.
A summary of your comments is below, alongside details of what we doing.
Micro-Moratorium
You said: “If we don’t support small companies and help them employ people, they can never grow big and we won’t have any employers.”
What we are doing: We know that the impact of legislation hits the smallest of businesses harder, and therefore we keep them very much in mind when looking at reducing burdens on employers. We already have in place a three year moratorium on new legislation, including employment law, for micro businesses. We are also investigating options for simplifying the paperwork obligations when taking on a new employee, and will consult further on how companies can let staff go who consistently fail to meet performance objectives.
‘One Click’
You said: “The number of regulations is terrifying and has made us decide not to expand our husband and wife micro business. We did consider taking someone on at one point but didn’t because we had neither the time nor the expertise to get to grips with the regulations.”
You said: “Much job creation is being held back by the fear of a small employer when looking at the onerous demands made on them with regard to employment regulations.”
What we are doing: We will release better, simpler guidance with the view to providing a ‘one click’ employment service to help employers know what they need to do and how to do it.
Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) – TUPE
You said: “Under TUPE regulations, the requirement to provide employee information to a successor employer is not applied early enough in the transfer process”.
What we are doing: We are consulting on TUPE regulations to look at scope for simplification. The Government issued a call for evidence on 23rd November and will publish a consultation document on any proposed changes in spring 2012.
Flexible Working
You said: “Changes to the legislation does need to be made. More time for both the mother and father should be given. Woman in this society are already delaying having a family due to their careers and trying to keep up with their male counterpart pay grade”.
You Said: “Legislation for flexible working needs to be made so that larger companies cannot manoeuver round it as they seem to be able to in a very big way at the moment”.
What we are doing: The Government consulted on new ideas to support the family in flexible working arrangements through the Modern Workplaces consultation. We will publish our conclusions, and seek parliamentary approval for proposals for legislative change, in 2012.
Employment Tribunals
You Said: “Scrap the ridiculously complex procedural rules for taking complaints to Employment Tribunals”.
You Said: “The growth of small businesses is seriously damaged by the draconian employment laws and subsequent tribunal proceedings”.
You Said: “The Tribunal system should be simplified to allow both employers and employees to access it without the need for legal advice”.
You Said: “Proposals to charge people to take their case to an ET will deny people access to justice”.
What we are doing: Government will be implementing a package of reforms to modernise the employment tribunals system, including doubling the qualifying period for unfair dismissal, promoting early conciliation and mediation and simplifying compromise agreements. We will also be reviewing employment tribunal rules, looking at options for rapid resolution and consulting on options for fee charging.
Relevant Links
The Employment Related Law spotlight is here
RTC Employment Law announcement is here.
The full BIS press notice can be found here.
Vince Cable’s speech to the EEF on reforming employment relations can be found here.
More information on how the Red Tape Challenge works is available here.
