A Limited Summation Related To » Uk Employment Law Redundancy Consultation
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A Redundant System?
The UK’s employment legislation inhibits effective and sympathetic management in the current economic situation. At a time when we should be challenging all our working practices - by reducing salaries across the board, re-negotiating hours and benefits and revisiting the concept of bonuses to include maluses (whereby previously earned bonuses will be forfeited if they under perform) - should we now go so far as to include a review our employment legislation?
Re-organisation and redundancy projects can be extremely painful experiences for everyone, from those ‘at risk’ to those ‘guiltily OK’. Currently partners and managers are inhibited by a totally inhuman and undignified legal process.
The current employment laws affecting re-organisations, redundancy, TUPE transfer and re-negotiating terms and conditions (T&C) of employment are the areas we need to suspend, if not repeal and re-write. At the moment every management board in every law firm and in-house team are working out how they will manage through the tough economic times that are upon us. Inevitably at these covert meetings, ‘management’ is making decisions about who should be selected, and why. They then have to face their staff with a charade.
Re-organisations and redundancy
How many of the law makers have actually had to sit with someone, tell them in meeting one that they are ‘at risk’, then repeat this at meeting two, and then again at meeting three, and still not be able to say: ‘Yes, you are redundant’. This agonising process makes a mockery of any goodwill there might have been between employer and employee – everyone agrees the law is an ass, and yet we do nothing about it; why not?
The process is often further mismanaged when ineffective managers use redundancy to select the poor performers with trumped-up criteria, when in fact these staff should have been fired months, if not years ago. This allows incompetent management to continue in its most insidious form and at the same time blacken an already cumbersome process. It also slews the figures on how many staff are made redundant.
In the first place, we should make it easier for employers to dismiss staff, after a reasonable process, not render them fearful of being tripped up with charges of harassment, etc, because a manager finally tackles a poor performer. (This is most prevalent within the public sector where thousands of staff are still employed because the managers are too scared claims may be made against them; frankly, the tail wagging the dog). Secondly, we need to have a swifter process for discussing or consulting with staff changes to the structure, which on the one hand does protect staff from abuse / mismanagement but on the other does not let incompetent staff slip under the wire yet again.
Acquisitions / mergers – and TUPE
With an increasing number of firms needing to merge, or be rescued or acquired, the greatest restriction to swift and painless action is the requirement for the acquiring firm to take on the acquired staff T&Cs through TUPE. At a time when all JCB staff, 25,000 Corus steel workers and car manufacturers in the UK are agreeing pay cuts of between 10 and 25 per cent from top to bottom, we need to be free to agree these changes swiftly and efficiently: not to have to take the 30 or 90 days’ consultation, or to gain the full agreement of everyone, before implementing those changes.
There has to be a balance between the good of the individual and the good of the whole organisation. Some people are just stubborn – maybe firms would be better off without them anyway. There should be a more effective guillotine process that enables employers the chance to keep the able and willing and reject the uncooperative. This is after all going to be a time of survival of the swiftest.
Arrogance is for aardvarks
Agile, swift, consultative, collegiate, team-spirited, even war time-spirited partners and staff are required, and partners and their management teams should be free to discuss openly and honestly with their staff what the situation is, and respond within hours or days. And staff need to recognise they cannot keep hiding behind the legal process if they want to keep their jobs - they too have to be creative, innovative and practical. Whingeing at an Employment Tribunal will not bring back a job once it (and the firm perhaps) has gone. Is this not the arrogance of aardvarks?
Are we complying while Britain burns?
Like Emperor Nero, fiddling whilst Rome burned, are we really going to sit and do nothing? Are we are too slothful, reluctant or apathetic to pick up this challenge and do something about our legislation? Do we prefer to blame ‘the law makers’ as useless and ask how many of them have had to manage a redundancy programme? Our government and opposition parties should address these issues quickly, working with practitioners, lawyers, the EU, employers, trades union and the population to stop this nonsensical politically correct behaviour, and allow common sense to prevail. This requires vocal support from influential law firms to lobby for change – we can all play a part in achieving these changes.
About the Author
Patricia Wheatley Burt is a business and HR consultant and expert in commercial and professional practice management. She works with a wide range of companies providing Consultancy, Training and Executive Coaching based on over 25 years’ experience.
Patricia established what is now Trafalgar – The People Business in 1990, which specialises in strategy, business development, achieving Peak Performance Management and, of course, developing pro£itability.
Clients find that those ‘tiresome management tasks’ become easier and more manageably effective, that staff become fired up with enthusiasm and the business does achieve its goals – and increases profitability!
As a keynote speaker and facilitator Patricia focuses on motivating her audiences to welcome change, to understand the personalities and motivations of others, to work together towards targets and goals which ultimately lead to success for all.
In her spare time Patricia is involved with several charities including Ataxia UK. She has had numerous articles published, has a series of Practice Management Pocketbooks and DVDs for professional people, has scripted and contributed to a number of LNTV videos, has appeared on BBC radio and is a member of the National Speakers Association and a Fellow of the Professional Speakers Association.
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