Beecroft’s charter to sack given thumbs up by Chamber

CONTROVERSIAL proposals to change employment law, which include making it easier to sack employees, have been welcomed by a Midlands business organisation.

Commenting on the proposals outlined in the Beecroft Report, Mike Ashton, chief executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Adrian Beecroft is right to point out that at a time when millions of people are unemployed, ministers should be looking for ways to make it easier and less costly to employ people, not the other way around.

“Of course employment rights are important, but should be weighed against opportunities for the unemployed who are looking for work.

“Ministers should consider and progress all proposals that would give businesses greater confidence to hire – an outcome that would benefit companies, individuals and the UK economy as a whole.”

Commenting on the proposal for a compensated, no-fault dismissal route, Ashton said: “Employers tell us that hiring staff is expensive, so dismissing someone is always a last resort. We are not saying that businesses should be able to ‘fire at will’, but the fear of not being able to dismiss a troublesome employee prevents many businesses from recruiting.

“A compensated, no-fault dismissal route would be more favourable financially for an employee than if they were managed out of the business on performance grounds.”

Carmen Watson, MD of Meriden-based Pertemps Network Group, the UK’s largest independent recruitment firm, has also broadly welcomed Beecroft’s proposals.

“Employers will welcome any measure that introduces more flexibility, provided this is done speedily and efficiently and people do not get held up “in the system”, and that gives employers the confidence to hire new staff,” she said.

“Hopefully this will create the opportunities and jobs that we currently need and ultimately lead to economic growth.”

On no-fault dismissals, she argues that it could lead to more permanent staff being taken on by SMEs.

“Small and medium-sized companies in particular are currently reluctant to take on new permanent staff, preferring to hire temporary employees where the agency manages employment issues on their behalf.They believe taking on permanent staff will involve them in a lot of bureaucracy and red tape,” she said.

“They also have a genuine fear that, even if they do everything right, they may still end up facing a claim brought by a disgruntled former employee which will cost them a lot to defend. I believe many employers will welcome any measure that reduces that fear, and frees them up to take on the staff they need.”

It is not yet known which parts – if any – of the Beecroft Report will be implemented.

The report is popular with the right wing of the Conservative Party but has been less warmly welcomed by business secretary Vince Cable and other leading Liberal Democrats.

Beecroft, a venture capitalist and Conservative Party donor, is unlikely to have built any bridges with his comments in today’s Daily Telegraph newspaper in which he describes Dr Cable as a socialist and says that he has done very little to help business.