Employers: Fire and Rehire Tactics Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business and Trade
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
Main Page: Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Palmer of Childs Hill's debates with the Department for Business and Trade
Employers: Fire and Rehire Tactics
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)
As I said, when we look at the standards of employment law against our competitors in Europe, we have a strong labour market, a strong rate of employment and a long-established suite of protections for all our workers, employees and self-employed people.
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD)
My Lords, what is the assessment of the Minister’s department of how much compensation would have been received if the proposed guidance had been in force when P&O sacked hundreds of its employees? As another noble Lord said, 25% of nothing is nothing; it is all smoke and mirrors.
Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for raising that rather infamous case. What P&O did was illegal. It was not fire and rehire but dismiss and replace. It would remain illegal whether or not the code had been in place, and P&O has received considerable censure as a result. The code, which will come through in the spring, will give real guidance and protection to both employers and workers.