Fire and rehire is a hostile employment practice where an employer seeks to terminate workers’ existing contracts and rehire them under new terms.
Unreasonable employers have used this tactic to force staff to accept lower wages, different hours or other changes in working arrangements.
In January 2021, the TUC conducted a survey which found that that almost 1 in 10 respondents (9%) had been told to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions since the first COVID lockdown in March 2020.
Hundreds of British Gas engineers, who install and repair boilers and heating systems, were sacked in 2021 after refusing to sign up to new terms and conditions that left them with a pay cut and longer hours.
The engineers were given two weeks to change their minds and sign new deals, which included longer hours, together with shifts over weekends and bank holidays. While some signed at the last minute, hundreds were left without a job.
,A spokesman for then Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in October 2021 that “Using threats of firing and rehiring is completely unacceptable as a negotiating tactic. We expect companies to treat their employees fairly!.
But rather than agree with an outright ban the Government said that it would “produce more comprehensive clearer guidance to help all employers explore all the options before considering fire and rehire”.
The junior business minister, Paul Scully, spoke for more than 40 minutes in the House of Commons chamber to ensure that a private member’s bill proposed by Barry Gardiner ran out of time and would not progress beyond its second reading.
In January this year the Government began to consult on a draft “Code of Practice” which sets out employers’ responsibilities when seeking to change contractual terms and conditions of employment, including requiring businesses to consult with employees in a “fair and transparent way” when proposing changes to their employment terms.
Courts and employment tribunals will be given the power to apply a 25% uplift to an employee’s compensation in some circumstances if an employer is found to have not complied with the statutory code.
The Code essentially goes no further than trying to ensure that there is a right way for employers to do the wrong thing. The Trades Council says: “It is like having a law on burglary that simply decrees burglars should not make a mess”.
The Trades Council has taken the opportunity to respond to the Government’s consultation on the Code to set out on detail our opposition to the practice and examine possibilities for either outlawing it, or making it a much less easy option for employers. You can download a copy of our Response, as agreed at our March Trades Council meeting, here:
Meanwhile, Lord Tony Woodley, the former Unite general secretary, has reintroduced Barry Gardiner’s Bill in the House of Lords. You can read more about it here: