‘Sack unproductive workers’ says leaked report
Companies should be able to fire unproductive workers without any explanation or fear of unfair dismissal claims, says a leaked government report.
The right to claim unfair dismissal should be scrapped to give business more freedom and boost economic growth, the report suggests.
Written by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft, the document was commissioned by David Cameron and has not been published. But a draft, dated 12 October this year, says that current unfair dismissal rules have a “terrible impact” on the efficiency and competitiveness of UK businesses.
The report also reads: “A proportion of employees, secure in the knowledge that their employer will be reluctant to dismiss them, work at a level well below their true capacity; they coast along.”
Mr Beecroft argues that nothing in EU law would prevent the government from getting rid of current unfair dismissal legislation.
Current rules are ‘lengthy and complex’
A draft seen by The Daily Telegraph reads: “The [current] rules both make it difficult to prove that someone deserves to be dismissed, and demand a process for doing so which is so lengthy and complex that it is hard to implement.
“This makes it too easy for employees to claim they have been unfairly treated and to gain significant compensation.”
The report concedes that changes to legislation could result in employees being fired because their employers simply didn’t like them. But concluded that this is “a price worth paying”.
The proposals are said to have support in Downing Street, but one senior Conservative has already said that Mr Beecroft’s ideas are likely to be “swiftly swept away” because of resistance from the Liberal Democrats.