Cameron Attacks Workers Protection In 'Thatcher' Policy Renewal
Following on from a week during which Thatcher's ghost was well and truly awaken in parliament, and saw the return of TINA (There Is No Alternative); Cameron's Con-Dem(ned) coalition governments turns back time to the 80's and removes employment protection and allows an employer free-for-all to abuse their employees.
Whilst this on the face of it some will say has no affect on health and safety, the direct opposite is true. There will be no protection from anyone being sacked for the first two years of employment. The rights to Employment Tribunal are being savaged and in any case the loss of Legal Aid will effect the ability of people to use the courts outside of employment tribunals. Add to the fact that Cameron will introduce fee charges to workers bringing a tribunal case, and you can see that anyone concerned about health and safety will not report it, concerned with the risk of being sacked using any arbitrary excuse.
In just this last week TUC Risks contains headlines:
Injury costs print worker his job,
Shredded arm ended work hopes, and
Caterpillar worker's died of asbestos cancer.
These are just a few of the weekly news items that the media never reports and shows the picture of unhealthy workplaces that exist today under current H&S legislation and employment protection laws. Given that cameron is removing employment protection based on whimsical claims made by employers lobbies, it is clear that when it comes to removing health and safety protection as well, the result will be carnage in terms of deaths and injuries and sackings.
But the government's new Employers Charter also details the rights of employers to dismiss staff, reduce pay, and demand holidays taken when the employer determines.
Cameron issued a statement today (1st February) applauding this move as being good for jobs. Entitled, the Employers Charter, it is clear that the Tories don't give a damn about health and safe working conditions or the right of the employee.
Cameron's Statement:
"For all the column inches written about it in our newspapers and words spoken by economists, there’s really no mystery about what drives economic growth and creates jobs. It is business and enterprise – these are the engines of our economy. It is expanding businesses and the people with the courage to strike out on their own, the curiosity to innovate and the confidence to invest who are going to fire up economic growth in our country.
That’s why this government is relentlessly focused on getting behind them. We’re asking businesses what they need to grow and prosper and we’re acting on the answers.
They want reassurance that the economy is sound – which is why we’ve taken decisive action to cut the deficit and restore sense to Britain’s public finances. They want more reasonable tax rates – which is why we’re now on course for the lowest corporation tax in the G7. They want the endless flow of new regulations to stop – which is why we’ve said that any new rule on business can only come in at the expense of an old one. And they want credit – which is why we are working hard to get Britain’s banks lending again.
But speak to businesses and they’ll say something else: that the balance of rights is tilted far too much in favour of employees over employers. They say it’s become far too difficult to hire and fire workers, and far too easy for those workers to make unscrupulous claims against them. This not only costs our businesses a lot of money – on average around £4,000 for defending a tribunal case - but takes up a huge amount of time and effort too. Vitally, it makes businesses think twice before taking people on.
I’m determined we shift some of that balance back. That’s why today we’re publishing two really important documents. The first has been a long time coming: an Employer’s Charter. This sets out clearly the rights they have in the workplace. For example, the right to withhold pay from those who go on strike or to sack someone for poor performance. It’s all there in black and white so there’s no longer any confusion.
The second is a consultation on how we can make the whole system work better. I don’t just want us to sort out the practical issues – like speeding up the tribunal process and encouraging people to resolve disputes between themselves instead of through the courts. I want us to get to the real crux of the issue too. At the moment, an employee can bring a claim for unfair dismissal after working at a company for just one year. So we’re proposing to extend that to two years.
All this isn’t just good for employers; it’s good for workers too. No one wants to spend months on end worrying about a claim. And if businesses are more confident to take people on, it means more jobs for everyone too.
Have a look at what we propose yourself. You can see the Charter and consultation here. Better still, give us your feedback. If you run a business and think we can do things in a better way, let us know. If you don’t run a business but know someone who does, forward it on. And if you’re a worker or lawyer who’s had experience of a tribunal, let us know how we can improve the system.
Together, let’s create the conditions where business is really confident to invest, and jobs, growth and prosperity are created."
This atttidue was challenged by Brendan Barber from the TUC as being based on total fallacies put out by small businesses during an interview with Channel 4 News last week. Earlier last month the TUC had this to say on Cameron's plans to remove employment protection from workers:
" The TUC says it is worried that employer calls for an increase in the qualifying period in which workers can claim unfair dismissal from one to two years would prevent thousands of wronged employees from challenging their employers, and allow companies to sack staff at whim.
Another proposal being mooted is to make people pay a fee of up to £500 before they can go to a tribunal to stop people bringing weak claims. The TUC says this would deter many employees with genuine cases, especially low paid individuals who have just lost their jobs and no longer have a salary to rely upon.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "At the heart of any change to the tribunal system has to be the desire to make it more effective at delivering justice to the thousands of people who every year are wronged at work.
While employer groups complain that tribunals are costing them too much, they seem to have lost sight of the fact that if firms treated their staff as they are meant to, few would ever find themselves taken to court. Instead of a focus on the employment tribunal process, ministers' time would be better spent looking at why so many companies, especially small employers, have such poor employment practices.
When things go wrong at work, it's better for everyone concerned that the problem is resolved within the workplace, which is why mediation and the assistance provided by unions and ACAS is so invaluable. It's no accident that employers who work with unions are much less likely to find themselves in front of a tribunal than firms where there are no unions.
The government should stand firm in the face of the intense employer lobbying seen in recent weeks and leave employment tribunals to continue holding rogue employers to account and delivering justice for all workers who have been discriminated against or treated unfairly."
The TUC says that a number of the claims being put forward by employer groups are misleading: - Employers say the numbers of claims are increasing, but the TUC says the vast majority of the 236,000 cases taken last year were multiple claims covering large groups of workers, often in disputes over working time or equal pay. The number of claims made by individual employees is still low, it states.
- Employment tribunals already have the power to require deposits from individuals taking cases, and judges regularly issue costs orders and strike out claims they see as 'vexatious or misconceived'. The tribunal system is based on the principle that employees should not be deterred from bringing cases through fear of large costs should they lose, says the TUC.
- Raising the qualifying period for workers who believe they have been unfairly dismissed would deter many genuinely wronged individuals from seeking justice, claims the TUC. Having such a reason stated for dismissal can seriously impair the person's ability to find future work, can reduce their earning potential, and irreparably damage their careers.
The TUC adds that "it is a myth that workers use the employment tribunal system in a vexatious manner". "It is widely recognised that bringing a tribunal claim can be a highly stressful and time-consuming experience, and as a result many individuals decide not to enforce their rights and take their employers to court," it states.
Meanwhile, John Philpott of the CIPD warns:
"It would be particularly inadvisable for the government to introduce a so-called 'employers' charter' enabling employers to dismiss workers within two years of being hired rather than one year at present. Such a move would do nothing for jobs in the short-run against a backdrop of weak economic growth and would at best have only a limited impact on the economy's underlying job creation potential.
"Evidence on the effects of employment protection legislation is equivocal, but on balance suggests that while less protection encourages increased hiring during economic recoveries it also results in increased firing during downturns. The overall effect is thus simply to make employment less stable over the economic cycle. It is arguable that had a policy akin to the 'employers' charter' been in place during the recent recession there would have been more redundancies in a manner akin to what occurred in the 1990s recession. Such an outcome would have been detrimental to fostering a culture of genuine engagement and trust between employers and their staff, and potentially harmful to the long-run performance of UK plc."
Source: Unionsafety / Dept for Business / TUC / Working Mums
