Government’s employment law reforms must go further than today’s announcement, says IoD

Dated: 27 January 2011

Commenting on the Government’s plans to increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one to two years, and proposal for deposits from employees who wish to take employers to employment tribunal, Alexander Ehmann, Head of Regulation at the Institute of Directors, said:

“We very much welcome these proposals. Too many employers are being held to ransom in employment tribunals by vexatious employees and ‘no win, no fee’ lawyers. This has been bad for business performance and bad for job creation. We also welcome the proposed expansion of ACAS’s pre-claim conciliation service. This has the potential to root out some of the most dubious claims and save employers and employees a lot of wasted time and money.

“However, the impact of today’s proposals will be marginal in terms of boosting business growth and job creation if other areas of employment law remain unreformed or, worse still, made more onerous for employers. We remain very concerned about other Government plans in relation to parental leave, new flexible working rights and the Default Retirement Age.”

ENDS

Contact Points

Edwin Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5ED
Tel: +44 (0)20 7451 3392
Mob: +44 (0)7814 386 243
Email: edwin.morgan@iod.com
Website: www.iod.com/policy

Notes to editors

  • The IoD (Institute of Directors) was founded in 1903 and obtained a Royal Charter in 1906. The IoD is a non-party political organisation with upwards of 45,000 members in the United Kingdom and overseas. Membership includes directors from right across the business spectrum – from media to manufacturing, e-business to the public and voluntary sectors. Members include CEOs of large corporations as well as entrepreneurial directors of start-up companies.
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