New instant dismissal plans - bad for staff, good for business? The Fawcett Society spelled out this week how George Osborne's austerity cuts are threatening to reverse decades of hard-won progress on equality for women. It doesn't stop there: he also wants to turn back the clock on employees' rights. In a recent speech to the EEF manufacturers' organisation, the chancellor urged employers to back US-style government proposals that would make it lawful for about 4.5 million small businesses to sack employees on the spot. What lawyers call the "compensated no-fault instant dismissal" proposal would mean that small firms with fewer than ten staff can instantly dismiss an employee without giving a reason or having to prove fault, and can let them go with basic redundancy and notice pay. This is with the intention of boosting economic growth and ensuring that small businesses do not have to fear costly unfair dismissal litigation. Right not to be sued out of existence Osborne defended the plans, saying: "Plenty of trade unions and others will be submitting their evidence for why we shouldn't do this. "Of course, employees have rights and should be protected. But what about your right to start a business and not be sued out of existence?" The chancellor did not come up with any figures or examples of companies being sued out of existence. Companies that go bust may end up getting sued over redundancies, but there aren't many cases of healthy firms being forced into liquidation by a tribunal claim, as employment law consultant Peta Fluendy noted in her column on Financial Mail Women's Forum. Now surely this must be a good thing, I cant see anyone arguing against it!!!!!!!!!!!
Cameron and Osbourne and this whole shambolic Tory posh boys government, ably aided and abetted by the pathetic lap dog **** Clegg, are a ****ing disgrace. We are back in recession now and have about as much prospect of any growth as a Martian landscape but their only policies are to reward already wealthy bastards with a tax cut, increased costs for all of us with VAT increases and give bastard employers more power to sack staff that don't bow their heads and doth their caps and say thanks you for paying me **** wages for working **** hours. Anyone who voted for this set of utter ****ers should hang their heads in shame today. Those that would think about voting fore them in the future should be put up against the wall and have **** pies thrown at them. Same old Tories. Always ****ing over the working majority to help their rich elite pals fill their already over-flowing pockets. BTW - I am not a trade union member, nor a member of any political party and never have been. I am just an ordinary working man trying to survive in this stinking **** storm economy and do the best for my family and myself. I am getting no help from this Govt and worry that they have absolutely no idea or a plan B now this has gone horribly wrong. We are starring down the barrel of a gun with this Govt and they couldn't give a **** for the 80% of the working population that are keeping them all in a wonderful lifestyle. I wish ordinary man and women of this great nation would wake up and start to fight back, before these bastard really **** us over for good. God I feel good for that. Lol
Agreed. I hope the pathetic twats get kicked out of office at the next election. That useless bastard Clegg is a spineless pussy. He'd get into bed with any ****er that gives him a shot at glory. Thing is though, all he is is a ****ing puppet. Coneroon has had his hand up Cloggs **** pit since day one & the soft twatting LIBDEM grommets have u turned on EVERY pledge they made in their ****ingfesto. They should be hung for treason. It was interesting to note that both Libdem & Labour have pledged to give a referendum on EU membership should they be elected. Just like Coneroon did. Don't hold your breath, you will NEVER get it from the ****y three party embargo. As for Oscunt, can I have 20 minutes alone with him?
What Cest said!! I work for the NHS PCT in Gateshead so am staring down the barrell of redundancy over this government's decision to try to privatise. Mark my words they will try to push this through if they are re-elected - they have already privatised one trust in Cambridge and I reckon we will be like america in 10 years time if this government keeps going. Not a single one of them knows what it's like to be "Working class"
Employment rights have been hard won and giving the right to sack someone with out reason and giving them no rights to appeal is simply unjust. If you have worked some where for say 5 years and have a four week notice period and earn £500 a week all you would get is £4200. Which with a mortgae to pay/or rent and no job to go to. As you have been sacked you will not be allowed to claim benifits for several weeks. Also as you have been sacked it will be difficult to get new employment. There wil always be the example of some one who takes the piss out of the employer but we should not remove the proctetion of all employees just to get at this small number of people. Belive me there are some very nasty employers out there.
A happy medium has to be the answer there are **** employers out there but equally there are **** employees! I know plenty of both. No ****er ever gets the boot who should as no one in management has the backbone to take them on. Small businesses must be hard to run. I know if I had on I would worry about who I employed as one bad egg in a small basket must be a nightmare for all. Equally if that bad egg is the boss! It's a tough one really. I doubt many of the posh Tories run businesses with only 10 employees. Not sure where I stand on this one.
Come on Syd, scraping the bottom of the barrel, bringing politics into a football forum...Shame! Answering some of the comments to the post: Employers have rights as well as employees, and there are good and bad in each. I used to vote labour, indeed was a union rep for a while. Changed my stance under Harold Wilson, the liar, and voted Tory. Since then (sorry after Maggie) I've realised that most politicians regardless of their party are in it for themselves. Most go from school or university straight into politics. What experience of normal working lives have they had? How do they know how "most" people struggle to pay for luxuries, how they have to budget, see what food they can afford, with the money they get? Politicians just award themselves a whacking great pay rise while cutting benefits and pension rights for the restof the non govermental people, you lot. I haven't voted for many, many years, being out of the country, but my view of politicians in general is SCUM, practically all of them. OK rant over, back to football.
I Blame the tories for me losing my job in 5 weeks I Blame the tories for us getting knocked out of the cup i mean Everton play in Blue I Blame the tories for the weather And i blame the tories because i live in the North and not once in my lifetime have they done anything for me I was also made redundant under thatcher years So in all i have been made redundant twice in my life i am 56 and both times under a conservative government, my pension is ****ed i wish i had ****ed off to canada 30 years ago, i am now telling my son to do the same before we are overun with bloody foreigners who can,t write or speak english and then some have the nerve to say we are stopping there human rights. Well ship the ****ers out and sink the ****ing boat I am sorry but once i start i get more and more annoyed
Don't get me ****ing started our rights as workers have been eroded enough. There should be a general strike no ****ing ballot just all out but no to many ****ing people only one want to look out for them selves and to many are **** ****ing scared of losing their jobs so we get shafted while the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Now I tread on dangerous ground... I`m an employment lawyer - I represent mostly employers and am regularly faced with requests for advice on how to dismiss staff/ restructure businesses to reduce the size of the workforce (I nearly said head count but that sounds too management bollox speak). By the way - I vote labour and always have done... I think the problem that they are trying to address is that the system in the Employment Tribunal is screwed up. Typically in a "normal court" the loser pays not only his own legal fees but also a good proportion of the winners (say 70%) so there is a real risk in bringing a claim which does not have any underlying merit. The situation is very different in the Employment Tribunal. In the Tribunal the normal rule is that each side pays there own costs (there are some limited exceptions). If a case is brought and an employer asks me to represent them - the general figure I would give as an estimate is between £5-7k assuming a one day hearing (plus VAT). If the employer wins he is still therefore £5-7k out of pocket - so it has cost him a chunk of cash for doing nothing wrong (can`t have done anything wrong as he has won!). The rules have meant that other "amblance chasing types" have come into the arena whereby they agree to take cases on "no win no fee" - in the full and certain knowledge that those representing employers will be saying to them "it is going to cost you a few thousand to win - we ought to at least think about settling even if the case has no merit" As times are tough lots of employers pay something to avoid tribunal hearings and the fees associated. The changes, I think, are designed to avoid that from happening - they are also considering a fee being imposed to issue a claim in the tribunal - none required at present. The obvious counter argument is that how can someone who has just lost his/her job afford to risk £500 (the figure being banded about at the moment) on a court fee? The reality is that the lawyers have screwed the system up not the politicians - the Tribunals were originally designed to see people on both sides represent themselves in a quite "rough and ready" sort of forum - the problem is that lawyers got involved and an entire jurisprudence has developed which you need to understand to properly represent yourself these days. An unrepresented claimant is often on a hiding to nothing when the employers rolls out his lawyer - sad but true. I am all for blaming the tories whenever I get the chance - the underlying problem here is the fault of the legal profession - the way the tories are trying to resolve it is, however, bollocks! I cannot see how an employer with 10 or less employees can "properly" ignore employees rights - step back into the dark ages - dismissals because an employee is black/female/gay - lets not go there please. Don`t forget either that employers will then also start to engineer thier businesses in smaller units so that each company (if it can) stays under the threshold - more work for the lawyers in setting those up! Rant over - sorry As a bit of (hopefully) helpful advice - everyone should, in my view, give careful thought to taking out "Family Legal Protection" insurance when they next renew on their home/car insurance - cheap premiums (£5 a year?) and then allows you to be properly represented if you need to bring a claim if you have one without the risk of being unrepresented. Not a sales pitch I promise as insurers tend to insist on their own nominated solicitors acting - not my firm! Now watch this space for some lawyer bating...
What a first class post mate, I love this forum for this sort of thing. To me we are not a football forum we are a community built round a football club and this kind of post is informative and makes the old grey matter work.
S**t like this just mkes be even more happy that im joining Gyan over in Al ain on monday for 3 years, hopefully i can then sod off somewhere else! Or get our lass to renew here contrct again. I cant believe how bad it has got over my working life time (which isnt that long compared to most on here 20 years)
