The Prime Minister wants to make it easier for companies to get rid of staff in their first two years of employment as part of a shake-up of employment law.
David Cameron says that a new ‘employers’ charter’ will enable firms to fire staff without the threat of being taken to an employment tribunal, unless the employee has worked for the company for at least two years. It will replace the current rule where an aggrieved worker can make a claim for unfair dismissal after just a year.
Other proposals in the charter will include a charge for sacked workers who want to take a company to an employment tribunal and a reduction in the length of time that firms have to pay statutory sick pay.
Firms say that current laws act as a disincentive for firms to recruit more staff and the Coalition wants to create a climate where the private sector can grow and create more jobs. Cameron says that the proposals will lead to “the most pro-business, pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda ever undertaken by a government”.
However, the plans have been attacked by Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband. He said that the plans will leave a huge gap in the help given to unemployed young people and said: “The decision to betray young people is not just unfair, it is the wrong economic judgement for this country.”