Business: Conditions of Employment

(asked on 18th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) small, (b) medium-sized and (c) large businesses that have (i) fired and (ii) rehired employees in accordance with his Department's guidance on changing an employment contract in each of the last five years.


Answered by
Kelly Tolhurst Portrait
Kelly Tolhurst
This question was answered on 30th April 2019

The Government do not hold statistics on this matter. In general, the terms and conditions of employment are for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives). Once agreed, however, they form a legally binding contract of employment. While it is always open to either party to seek to renegotiate the terms of the contract, if the employer changes any of the terms without the employee’s agreement, the employee may be entitled to seek legal redress.

Additionally, employees who consider that their dismissal was unfair can complain to an employment tribunal, generally subject to a qualifying period of continuous service.

Both employers and employees are strongly encouraged to follow the guidance available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/your-employment-contract-how-it-can-be-changed when considering changing their terms and conditions of employment.

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