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News
Lee Xavier, 07 Feb 2012
As has widely been reported, the Government has increased the qualifying period of employment rights for being unfairly dismissed from one to two years. The new rules come into force on 6 April 2012.
The coalition government has been saying for some time it believes these new rules will make it easier for employers to hire staff without the difficulties of the minefield of employment laws they might have to deal with. Indeed, the CBI at the time the reforms were put forward said it was a move in the right direction and should give employers confidence to take on more staff. Businesses up and down the country will welcome the changes.
It cannot be said there is universal approval for these changes, with some commentators saying there is no reason to suggest the increase in qualifying period will actually help to create jobs or reduce burdens on business. It may well help to keep the costs down in funding the tribunal system, with the burden on the claimant in bringing a claim.
The new rules will replace the one-year rule introduced by the Labour government in 1999; it had previously been two years, brought in under the Conservative government in 1985. The new rules will not be retrospective and the myriad of discrimination laws that have no qualifying length of employment rights will not be changed.
So what will this mean?
This means that employees that were employed before the 6 April 2012 will still be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal with a qualifying period of one year.
It is expected that the number of unfair dismissal claims to the employment tribunal will fall initially; however, paradoxically, this may mean a jump in discrimination claims. Only time will tell.
Employers should take heart that in these harsh economic times they will have less fear about dismissing employees than they previously might have done; this is especially so for small employers.
Will the HR departments be mothballed?
Unlikely. Claims may fall, but workplace mediation is likely to rise significantly. Therefore, for those who have not been on a mediation course, now would be the ideal time to do so, as both employees and employers will be actively encouraged to use this process before a claim is brought to the tribunal. The Acas mediation scheme is likely to be very active also. This should keep the HR professionals just as busy, if not more so.
Lee Xavier is head of employment law at Bevans London
2 comments on this article |
Tom Toher 07 Feb 2012
I have yet to see any comment in HR Magazine arguing against the proposed law changes, which does suggest a lack of editorial independence on the issue. Most people, including senior management, are employees so can someone please explain why the further deterioration in the worst employment rights in the EU is to anybody's benefit? Surely we all deserve porotection from bad management practices, bullying in the workplace and opportunistic employers who will make these new rules work to their advantage alone and be more likely to let people go when the they have had nearly 2 years out of them, but don't want staff with full employment rights. This is a huge backward step that also lacks any political mandate. This was not in either coalition party's manifestos. It will also not result in a single extra hiring.
Jose Santiago 07 Feb 2012
I think that th eidea that 2 yeasr will solve the problem of employment is a guess at best, rather it is a policy statement. The other implies that we are unable to make proper selections and measure the performance of people in a short period of time. This seems to indicate three things, (1) that we cannto select very well and that our tools are not good at predicting performance and fit to our business and culture, and (2) that we are not prepared to spend time onboarding new staff and, (3) providing them with defined taska, goals and objectives and meeting with them regularly during their frist 12 months of working for us. We ought to be beter at this as we have been using it for years, in my mind it reflects on the way we see management and leadership and contribution of people to the business. The gap between manageing gets worse not better, and formal education does not provide these skills nor does the changes in legislation help solve this problem. Attack the root cause and the problem will be resolved in due course
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