In our latest employment law news roundup:-
A Labour Government Would Make The Right To Bring A Claim For Unfair Dismissal A Day 1 Right
At the TUC Congress 2021, the Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, announced that a Labour Government would make bringing a claim for unfair dismissal a day 1 right. Currently, those with less than 2 years service, cannot bring such a claim unless the reason for dismissal is found to be automatically unfair
Sir Keir Starmer also announced that a Labour Government would also:-
- Increase in the national minimum wage to £10.00 per hour
- Ban zero hours contracts
- Make flexible working the default, with employers under an obligation to accommodate it unless they can show that it would be unworkable
- Introduce 'single worker status' - all but the genuinely self-employed would have the same employment rights (e.g. holiday pay, guaranteed sick pay, the national minimum wage, etc)
- Ban 'fire and rehire', in which employers dismiss staff and then take them back on, on inferior terms
£1.3 Billion In Furlough Monies Returned
The Treasury has announced that £1.3 billion in furlough monies have been returned, with £300,000 returned in the last 3 months alone.
The number of workers on furlough also fell by 340,000 in July 2021, to 1.6 million.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, described the return of furlough monies as "heartening". He stated: "This Government stepped in to help when people needed it most, supporting 12 million jobs through furlough. This worked. Nearly two million fewer people are now expected to be out of work in the UK than previously feared. Now with our recovery under way it is heartening to see that £1.3 billion in furlough grants have been returned as the economy recovers."
Thus far, the Government has spent £68.5 billion on the coronavirus job retention scheme, which is due to end on the 30th September 2021.
Employment Tax Director at MHA, Nigel Morris, states that: "The advice to all businesses, as the scheme ends, must be to review all their furlough claims and ensure that if they have overclaimed, they make arrangements to pay HMRC back as soon as possible. This should help to avoid interest and penalties. HMRC and the National Audit Office estimate between 5% and 10% of the total furlough money claimed could represent overclaims."
The Treasury stated in the same announcement that it had put together a "1,250-strong Taxpayer Protection Taskforce" to investigate those suspected of fraudulently claiming furlough monies.
New Research: 36% Of Employees Have Suffered Discrimination
Research conducted by CIPHR has found that 36% of workers have either suffered discrimination at work or in looking for a job. In terms of the type of discrimination suffered, the breakdown is as follows:-
- Age discrimination - 16%
- Gender based discrimination - 10%
- Disability discrimination - 9%
- Race discrimination - 9%
- Sexual orientation discrimination - 8%
The survey also found that the younger the employee, the more likely they are to assert that they had suffered discrimination. For instance, 73% of 18-24 year olds stated that they had been the victim of discrimination, compared to 22% of over 45 year olds.
Those working in London reported the highest levels of discrimination, with 54% stating that they had been subjected to discrimination. In contrast, 72% of those working in wales stated that they had never been the victim of discrimination.
The director of people & services at CIPHR, Claire Williams, stated: "Looking at this research, it’s concerning to see that workplace discrimination is still so rife, not just in the workplace but all the way through the recruitment process. Despite all the headlines and the calls for action, employers are still letting prejudice and unconscious bias turn away top talent from their business."
