Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the Acas paper, Dismissal and re-engagement (fire-and-rehire): a fact-finding exercise, published 8 June 2021.

This Government has been clear that we expect employers to treat their employees fairly and in the spirit of partnership. Using threats about firing and rehiring as a negotiation tactic is unacceptable. We expect employers and employees to negotiate new terms and conditions and there are laws around how this must be done, and legal protections in place when firms are considering redundancies. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy asked Acas to conduct an evidence-gathering exercise to improve our evidence base. We welcome Acas’ report on this work which was published on 8 June.

The Acas report demonstrated that there are different views on whether the practice can ever be justified. It finds general agreement that fire and rehire should only be used in limited circumstances – such as to prevent job losses when other options have been exhausted. Acas have been asked to produce clearer and more comprehensive guidance to help employers explore all the options before considering ‘fire and rehire’.