Employers: Fire and Rehire

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness has queued up my noble friend Lord Parkinson for his return; we are all looking forward to his contribution. There are difficulties in the employment tribunal system—many of which are a result of the pandemic—as there are across the whole of the judicial system. Colleagues in the Ministry of Justice and others are working hard to resolve those problems.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, can the Minister give further thought to and reflect on the suggestion made to him about the importance of looking at products produced by companies that fire and rehire? Would it be possible to amend the Procurement Bill—the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, is sitting alongside him and now has responsibility for overseeing that legislation—to prevent companies using these practices from selling their products into the Government’s supply chains?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am sure my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe has heard what the noble Lord said. I am not going to give any commitments on her behalf. It is important to point out that only a very tiny minority of employers resort to these practices. The vast majority of employers look after their employees well and responsibly. As I said, we do not encourage these practices.