TUC proposals for reform of unfair dismissal law

[ch 1: page 8]

The TUC has argued for many years for the reform of unfair dismissal laws, which have failed to keep pace with changes to the way people work and with growing casualisation. In its response to the government consultation: Ending the abuse of zero hours contracts, the TUC argues that:

• all economically dependent workers should qualify for the same statutory employment rights. The only exception should be those who are genuinely self-employed and running a business on their own account;

• existing “employee” rights should be extended to all workers. This could be achieved by:

• adopting a new single definition of “a worker” which covers all current employees and workers and applies to all statutory rights; or

• employee-only rights could be uniformly or incrementally extended to “workers”.

• there should be a statutory presumption that all workers qualify for statutory employment rights. The onus should rest with the employer to convince an employment tribunal that someone is genuinely self-employed;

• the rules on continuity of employment should be reformed so that casual workers who experience breaks in employment qualify for employment rights;

• unfair dismissal protection should be a day one right available to all workers;

• statutory redundancy pay should be available for all workers; and

• collective redundancy consultation rights and TUPE protections must be restored.