Unions Together

In a few weeks time, the Enterpriseand Regulatory Reform Bill will come back to the House of Commons. That Bill has been described as ‘Beecroft by the back door’, because:

• it throws up barriers that make it harder for people to access justice if they have been treated unfairly at work;
• it lowers the amount of compensation working people can receive;
• it introduces “settlement agreements” - making it easier for employers to offer employees money to leave; and
• if employees reject a settlement agreement, they won’t be able to use the discussion about the proposed settlement agreement as evidence in an employment tribunal.

The product of these complex clauses in the Bill, combined with the fact the Government are also going to start charging fees for employment tribunals, has been termed ‘Beecroft Lite’, because it's almost as bad as the proposals for 'no fault dismissal' from millionaire Tory Donor Adrian Beecroft. Many people will agree to a poorly-compensated ‘settlement agreement’, as for many accessing justice will seem too complicated and expensive. When Beecroft appeared as a witness to the Bill Committee, Tory MP Julian Smith let the cat out of the bag, saying that settlement agreements “are a good halfway house regarding some of the proposals you made”. Email your MP now and tell them that they need to vote ‘no’ to the Enterprise Bill when it comes back to the Commons on Tuesday 16th October.