Government pushes back date for fire and rehire changes

The government has released a revised timeline for the Employment Rights Act, which sees the implementation of some parts pushed back to next year.

This decision will come as a surprise to most businesses, as just two weeks ago one of its ministers insisted that implementation would proceed without delays. The biggest change affects the new laws around fire and rehire. These were supposed to come into force this October, but have now been rescheduled for January of next year. When they do become law, employers will no longer be able to sack employees before rehiring them after cutting or removing their pension benefits or wages.

Stephen Simpson of Brightmine told Personnel Today that employers should make use of this additional time to prepare for the changes:

“While only 4% of organisations currently see this as the most significant change for their business, according to our latest research, it poses a huge risk, and HR teams should be reviewing dismissal procedures and have the right processes in place to avoid substantial legal and financial consequences.”

The biggest risk is for small firms that do not have dedicated HR staff. Turning to outsourced HR services in Buckinghamshire would help to ensure they do not fall foul of the changes.

Liz Stevens works for law firm Birketts in its employment division. She said the reasons for the delay in implementing this part of the Employment Rights Act were not clear.

She then added that the most likely explanation was because the planned consultation on them had not yet happened.