FAIRNESS
AT WORK
ANNEX II
Summary
of Proposals and Issues for Consultation
New Rights
for Individuals
The Government
proposes to:
1. reduce
the qualifying period for protection against unfair dismissal
to one year (paragraph 3.10)
2. abolish
the maximum limit on awards for unfair dismissal (paragraph 3.5)
3. introduce
legislation to index-link limits on statutory awards and payments,
subject to a maximum rate (paragraph 3.8)
and the Government
invites views on:
4. whether
the limits on additional and special awards should be retained,
or tribunals should be able to award aggravated damages (paragraph
3.7)
5. its
options for changing the law which allows employees with fixed
term contracts to waive their right to unfair dismissal and statutory
redundancy payments (paragraph 3.13)
6. whether
further action should be taken to address the potential abuse
of zero hours contracts and, if so, how to take this forward without
undermining labour market flexibility (paragraph 3.16)
7. whether
legislation should be introduced to extend the coverage of some
or all existing employment rights by regulation to all those who
work for another person (paragraph 3.18)
Collective
Rights
The Government
proposes to:
8. enable
employees to have a trade union recognised by their employer where
the majority of the relevant workforce wishes it. Statutory procedures
for both recognition and derecognition will be introduced (paragraph
4.11)
9. change
the law in line with its belief that in general those dismissed
for taking part in lawfully organised official industrial action
should have the right to complain to a tribunal of unfair dismissal
(paragraph 4.22)
10. make
it unlawful to discriminate by omission on grounds of trade union
membership, non-membership or activities (paragraph 4.25)
11. prohibit
blacklisting of trade unionists (paragraph 4.25)
12. amend
the law on industrial action ballots and notice to make clear
that, while the union’s notice to the employer should still
identify as accurately as reasonably practicable the group or
category of employees concerned, it need not giv names (paragraph
4.27)
13. create
a legal right for employees to be accompanied by a fellow employee
or trade union representative of their choice during grievance
and disciplinary procedures (paragraph 4.29)
14. abolish
the CRTUM and CPAUIA and give new powers to the Certification
Officer to hear complaints involving most aspects of the law where
CRTUM is currently empowered to provide assistance (paragraph
4.31)
15. make
funds available to contribute to the training of managers and
employee representatives in order to assist and develop partnerships
at work (paragraph 2.7)
and the Government
invites views on:
16. whether
training should be among the matters automatically covered by
an award of trade union recognition (paragraph 4.18)
17. how
a procedure for derecognition should work (paragraph 4.18)
18. how
protection against dismissal for those taking part in lawfully
organised industrial action should be implemented (paragraph 4.23)
19. how
to simplify the law and Code of Practice on industrial action
ballots and notice (paragraph 4.26)
Family-Friendly
Policies
The Government
proposes to:
20. extend
maternity leave to 18 weeks, to align it with maternity pay (paragraph
5.14)
21. give
employees rights to extended maternity absence and to parental
leave after one year’s service (paragraph 5.19)
22. provide
for the contract of employment to continue during the whole period
of maternity or parental leave, unless it is expressly terminated
by either party, by dismissal or resignation (paragraph 5.21)
23. provide
similar rights for employees to return to their jobs after parental
leave as currently apply after maternity absence (paragraph 5.22)
24. provide
three months’ parental leave for adoptive parents (paragraph
5.23)
25. provide
a right to reasonable time off for family emergencies, which will
apply to all employees regardless of length of service (paragraph
5.28)
26. ensure
that employees are protected against dismissal or detriment if
they exercise their rights to parental leave and time off for
urgent family reasons (paragraph 5.29)
and invites
views on:
27. simplifying
notice of maternity leave (paragraph 5.17)
28. its
options for framing legislation to comply with the Parental Leave
Directive (paragraph 5.16)
29. the
particular difficulties small firms might face in complying with
the Directive on parental leave (paragraph 5.26)
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