Lord Bates
Main Page: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, the noble Lord asked whether any other countries had in effect a micro-exemption. Germany does. He was also concerned about discrimination. Broadening the question, I will say that the Government will not tolerate discrimination in the workplace.
Lord Bates
My Lords, will my noble friend confirm that the whole thrust and purpose of the review is to get people hiring again, not to get them firing, and that it is part of a growth assessment? Does he agree that it stands to reason that there must be one set of rules for large employers—the Vauxhalls, the Tescos—with huge HR departments? If one of their workers underperforms, they can provide them with the necessary supervision, training and reskilling. However, where a firm has only two or three employees, if one underperforms then up to 50% of the workforce is underperforming. The firm will not have an HR department or supervisory skills, and did not employ a firm of global headhunters to hire the person in the first place. Therefore, different rules need to be considered.