Latest developments
Adrian Beecroft submission to government on employment law
On 21 May 2012 the Report on employment law (PDF, 184 Kb) , submitted by Adrian Beecroft to government, was published. Mr Beecroft was asked to provide his thoughts on areas of employment law that he considered may have potential for further improvement or simplification to help business.
This report has been considered as part of the Employment Law Review and Red Tape Challenge, alongside other contributions from a range of businesses, individuals and their representatives. See the:
Employment law developments
On 15 March 2012 Vince Cable announced as part of his speech to the British Chambers of Commerce, that the government has published:
Through this call for evidence the government is seeking to establish a strong evidence base to help inform our understanding of the current dismissal system. This includes gathering information on awareness and use of the Acas Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance. In particular, we want to understand whether the Code could be adapted to make it easier to use and more accessible to smaller businesses.
Government is also seeking views on the idea of compensated no-fault dismissal for businesses with fewer than 10 employees and evidence on the potential impacts on employers, employees, and on the broader economy. Under such a system the employer would pay a set amount of compensation to the employee in dismissing the employee, but would not be required to go through a formal dismissal procedure.
The objective is to strike the right balance between providing flexibility for the employer and ensuring protection for the employee.
The Employment Law Review Annual Update outlines progress on this cross-government Review, and looks ahead at the forward programme. The Review aims to reduce the employment law burdens on business to give them greater confidence to take on more staff and grow. The Employer’s Charter, first produced in January 2011, has been refreshed with further pointers on sickness absence and recruitment, in response to the recommendation in the independent review of sickness absence by Dame Carol Black and David Frost. It is designed to dispel myths around employment law and, in particular, give clarity to employers about what they can already do to deal with staff issues in the workplace.
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