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Sackings made easier – new plans announced by Chancellor George Osborne(11-May-2011)

As per the latest reports, the government is reviewing some of the critical elements of employment law and if the government gets to legislate their current plans, the employees will have to constantly watch out as it will be very easy to fire people and make mass redundancies.

Employment rules governing levels of compensation for workplace discrimination, and consultation time periods for job losses are also being reviewed.

Chancellor George Osborne said that if the government was to support job creation it could not "shy away from looking at difficult issues".

In terms of collective redundancy, companies planning to lay off large numbers of staff have to hold a consultation lasting at least 90 days. It has been reported that the government is reviewing protection of staff terms and conditions when a firm is transferred to a new owner – commonly referred to as Transfer of Undertaking (TUPE). It has also been reported that EU regulations on employment transfers may limit the scope for change.

Business groups have apparently been lobbying and urging the ministers that not having the flexibility to sack people immediately and go on paying workers for weeks after deciding to sack them places an undue burden on companies trying to cut costs urgently.

The Confederation of British Industries (CBI) welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement, saying the review of employment law was "long overdue".

Kesh Thukaram, Director of Best Insurance said that while it is essential to ensure that the employment laws are not overly bureaucratic and should give all the necessary flexibility to employers to make such quick decisions, it should not be at the cost of employees losing out. It is a very tough economic climate and people losing jobs are not finding it easy to find new ones. The unemployment numbers are at an all time high and the government should not take any hasty decisions which will worsen the situation further.

Best Insurance has been really busy over the last few months as more and more people are covering their redundancies with a redundancy cover and unemployment insurances. Best Insurance is one of the largest protection insurance companies and offers a wide range of market leading income protection and payment protection insurances and redundancy covers.