Employment Law: Unfair Dismissal

Lord Tebbit Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

Other rights, including “day one rights” such as the right not to be discriminated against, are unaffected and will continue to be so. We are trying to see whether this particular piece of work will get more people into employment and will work for smaller companies, which are nervous and which do not very often have big HR departments to help them. We need to get the trust back between the employer and the employee and I think that this will be a good way to do it.

[Lord Tebbit]

My Lords, does my noble friend—

[Lord Myners]

My Lords, the Minister has spoken about the need to create more employment for young people. How is the Minister going to ensure that new employment opportunities for young people are not achieved at the risk of displacing the employment of older people?

[Baroness Wilcox]

That is a very interesting question. We are obviously serious about tackling youth unemployment. We have very high youth unemployment. But I am slightly older, and am still employed, and I would like to continue to be so, if that is possible. The balance is that the employer will use the talent that he has got to keep his business profitable. If his business is not profitable and he goes out of business, then nobody has a job.

[Lord Tebbit]

Would my noble friend remind the House of the period for which an employee has to work before he or she is completely free to break their contract of employment by going on strike, as we shall see many civil servants do next week?

[Baroness Wilcox]

Gosh. I am afraid that I do not have the details of the answer to that question, but I will write to the noble Lord.