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Vexatious claimsEmployment lawDepartment for Business and Trade (DBT)Latest NewsUnfair dismissal

DTI rejects calls to scrap unfair dismissal law

by Personnel Today 14 Feb 2007
by Personnel Today 14 Feb 2007

The government has been forced to defend the unfair dismissal law in the face of increasing calls for the legislation to be scrapped.

Almost half of the 450 HR professionals who responded to Personnel Today’s online barometer survey last week said the unfair dismissal law should be ditched.

Business leaders have lined up to criticise the law, which they feel damages the economy by making managers too scared to sack staff who are not up to scratch.

But a spokeswoman for the Department of Trade and Industry said: “Employees have a right to fair treatment in the workplace, and it is correct that they are protected from dismissal for reasons such as being pregnant, or because they are a member of a trade union.”

The government insisted that the unfair dismissal law does not stop employers dismissing people because of their conduct or lack of ability to do their job. “It would not be acceptable to scrap a law that protects people’s employment rights,” added the spokeswoman.

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Susan Anderson, the CBI’s director of HR policy, agreed that staff needed protection from unscrupulous employers. But she told Personnel Today: “Calls to scrap the unfair dismissal law indicate growing frustration with the rising number of weak and vexatious tribunal claims.”

Mark Ellis, a solicitor and CEO of business consultancy Ellis Whittam, won a cult following last month when he suggested on his blog the unfair dismissal law should be scrapped. He argued that if employers could sack people they didn’t like, productivity would soar.

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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