Fire at will proposals proposed by the Beecroft review look to be dismissed themselves following a ‘call for evidence’ by the government.
Venture Capitalist Adrian Beecroft had proposed allowing employers to fire staff without explanation in return for a basic pay-off.
Out of 135 responses by businesses, 38% called for the plan to go ahead, while 32 per cent disagreed and 30 per cent were unsure. Among businesses with fewer than 10 staff – the category likely to benefit most from the new rules – 37% were in favour and 29 per cent against.
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat employment relations minister, said the figures demonstrated there was “no clamour” among employers for the measure. “I do not at this stage see the case for it,” he said.
The business department will today publish a new clause in the enterprise and regulatory reform bill to accomodate “settlement agreements”, which allow employers to persuade underperforming staff to leave voluntarily in return for a payment.
The Institute of Directors (IoD) had published a survey that claimed that a third of firms said they would create more jobs if no fault dismissal was in place, but opponents of hte move said that Germany which operates the same sort of rules has not seen an increase in recruitment as a result
Alexander Ehmann, head of regulatory affairs at the Institute of Directors (IoD), said: “If the Government has ignored what little evidence has been put forward, that’s a real error of judgement and it shows the process was never really open-minded."
