2. Fire and re-hire: dismissal and re-engagement in Community
Conference notes the introduction into
Parliament of Employment and Trade Union Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement)
Bill by Barry Gardiner MP and backed by the Institute of Employment Rights
which sought to amend the law relating to workplace information and
consultation, employment protection and trade union rights in order to provide
safeguards for workers against dismissal and their re-engagement on inferior
terms and conditions which was blocked by the government at second reading in
October 2021;
That in November 2021 the Advisory,
Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) published guidance for employers
considering making changes to employment contracts, making clear that fire and
rehire should be an option of last resort and that employers should first have
made all reasonable attempts to reach agreement through full consultation;
That in March 2022 the government
announced its intention to develop a new Statutory Code of Practice,
"which will clarify and give some legal force to government expectations
that employers should behave fairly and reasonably when seeking to change
employees’ terms and conditions" and that "The code will act as a
deterrent, particularly to those employers seeking to use the threat of fire
and rehire as a negotiation tactic." At the time of writing this code has
not been brought forward.
Conference further notes the subsequent
introduction of a private member’s bill the Employment and Trade Union Rights
(Dismissal and Re-engagement) Bill introduced by Lord Woodley (Labour) in the
House of Lords in August 2022.
Conference shares the widespread concern
at the BBC reports in July 2021 that companies involved in high-profile
disputes about alleged ‘fire and rehire’ tactics included British Gas, P&O
Ferries, Sainsbury’s, Argos, British Airways, Weetabix, Jacob Douwe Egberts
(JDE), and Tesco.
Conference is particularly concerned
that use of these tactics extend much wider and encompass our own employers in
Community.
In particular, Conference notes the case
of registered charity St Monica Trust who against a backdrop of a national
recruitment crisis in social care, in 2022, gave staff an ultimatum: sign new
detrimental contracts effectively cutting their pay (with some employees losing
more than £3,000 a year and also facing cuts to their sick pay and reductions
in working hours) or face dismissal. At the time of writing this dispute had
resulted in strike action.
Conference has previously highlighted
many aspects of the crisis in social care and the use of ‘fire and re-hire’
tactics is just one response from unscrupulous employers who seek to make
cost-savings at the expense of their key asset – their workers.
Conference believes there is a clear
need for stronger enforcement mechanisms against exploitative employers who put
share-holders or trustees interests first, whilst ruining the lives of their
workers, and failing to remunerate them appropriately.
Conference therefore calls on the
Community Service Group Executive to:
a) Continue to work with the National
Executive Council (NEC) and other Service Group Executives to highlight this
pernicious practice and the effect it has on UNISON members including those in
Community.
b) Support the call for stronger
enforcement mechanisms and legislative change to ultimately outlaw Dismissal
and Re-engagement.
Community
Service Group Executive
