Skip to main content

Right to switch off, fire & rehire: how Labour could change businesses

Continuing our series about Labour’s proposed worker’s rights, we’ve found out about their positions on the right to switch off, fire and rehire, and rights from day one, as well as how these could affect your business if they were put into effect

Right to switch off

Do you contact your employees outside of work, or ask for additional work to be completed outside of their contracted hours? Right to switch off, or right to disconnect, is the idea that employers should respect their employees' time outside of work and not contact them at all. The right to switch off became particularly popular during the pandemic, when the amount of people working from home increased and it became a lot easier to continue working after hours. 

In Labour’s Employment Rights Green Paper, as part of their new workers’ rights, employers will not be able to contact their employees outside of their working hours. Employees will have the right to disconnect from work.

How could this impact businesses?

If this was brought into effect, employers that contact their employees outside of work could be brought before a tribunal by an employee, and be required to pay their employee compensation. Employees could also not be discriminated against or reprimanded for refusing to work outside of their contracted hours.

Fire & rehire

Fire and rehire is an employment practice where an employee is made redundant, and then is rehired on a new contract that is less beneficial to the employee. According to Labour’s Employment Rights Green Paper, this disproportionately impacts those who are working in lower paid positions, as well as young workers and ethnically marginalised people. Typically, the threat of being without work is enough to pressure workers into agreeing to a less favourable contract.

Labour have stated that they will outlaw this practice, stating that they will improve consultation procedures to ensure that employees consult and make agreements with their workforce about any changes to their contracts. They have also stated that they will adapt the pre existing legislation for unfair dismissals and redundancy so that workers cannot be fired for refusing to consent to a new and less beneficial contract. 

How could this impact businesses?

The Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement came into force on 18th July, which seeks to make it more difficult for businesses to engage in fire and rehire practices. It does echo some of the thoughts in Labour’s Employment Rights Green Paper, such as encouraging employers to contact Acas for support with consultation, and stating that they should not threaten employees with dismissal if they do not agree to a new contract.

However, Labour’s plan to outlaw the practice could mean this legislation is strengthened, and fire and rehire is completely abolished. This is a complicated bit of legislation, and it's unclear exactly how it would be implemented at this time.

Rights from Day 1 

Currently, for an employee to bring a claim of unfair dismissal, they must have worked for the employer for a minimum of two years. Additionally, to receive parental pay and leave, employees must have been continuously employed by their employer for at least 26 weeks. 

In their Employment Rights Green Paper, Labour has stated that employees would all receive rights from the first day of their employment. As such, they would always be entitled to raise a claim of unfair dismissal or receive parental pay and leave. Regardless of how long an employee had worked with the organisation, they would have the same rights as any other employee. 

How could this impact businesses?

Whilst Labour have stated that employers will be able to continue to use probationary periods, an employer who fires an employee without a cause or reason could be in breach of the law. All dismissals would need to meet the government’s requirements of a fair dismissal. Employers would also not be able to refusal parental leave and pay based on the amount of time an employee has worked for them. 

What do businesses have to do now?

At present, these proposals were only put forward in Labour’s manifesto. As such, businesses do not need to take any action. If and when Labour pushes forward on these proposals, a bill will be put forwards in the House of Commons which will need to progress through the full legislative process in parliament before it becomes law.


The Transcendit Way

Transcendit understand that when you choose to work with us, whether we're taking care of your IT, app or web development, you're trusting us with part of your business. So whether we're looking after your computers, phone systems or servers we always do things 'the Transcendit way'.

The whole of our team adhere to the same values, beliefs and policies - the principles that were written when Transcendit first formed in 2000. Whether you come to us for cloud services or recovery backup you can be confident that you'll always receive the same excellent service.

The Transcendit way outlines how we do business; following the same straightforward principles with every client and customer, regardless of how big or small they may be.

That means we get to know you and your business. We offer you a friendly, professional and efficient service, and we'll always be honest with you.
We understand that not everybody speaks fluent IT, so we try to explain things in a way that is simple and clear. We always spend as much time as is necessary explaining things to you.
If you need to talk to us about something, no matter how insignificant, we are only ever a phone call away – and we’re never too busy to make you a cup of tea and have a sit down with you in person.
We understand how frustrating it can be when things are late. When we schedule an appointment with you, we are there when you’re expecting us. If something prevents us from getting there, we always call you in advance to let you know.
Sometimes things can go wrong, but we never lie to you or try to cover something up. If things go askew we tell you what’s happened and how we plan to prevent it affecting your business.
We want you to continuously benefit from working with us. We regularly discuss your business and make suggestions for improving systems and processes wherever we can – but we never try to push you into a purchase.
When we quote a fixed price, that's always the amount we charge – you won’t find any nasty surprises on a bill from us. If you are paying by time and materials, we inform you if our approximations could change.
We understand the importance of privacy for your business and your customers. We respect the confidentiality of your data, and we will never pass on your information to third parties.
We appreciate it when you take the time to give us feedback. A system called CustomerSure records our client's responses, so you can trust that our reviews are from real people.
Find out what they're saying here.
Your team have been superb! Quick to respond. No hassle. They just get on with the job. After a well-planned and executed Microsoft 365 migration I have been firing out emails as teething problems have arisen and they have turned the requests around pronto. Not to mention being carried out in a friendly yet professional manner. Just amazing performance! Rosie Malcolm-MacEwan

Based on 12075 reviews our customers rate us 9.8/10. Reviews and ratings by Customersure. 09-October-2024

Transcendit are proud sponsors of CHUF, the Children's Heart Unit Fund.

Transcendit is a Living Wage employer
Transcendit is a Microsoft Gold certified partner
VMWARE partner
Vipre partner
IPCortex partner
WithSecure partner
DELL partner
Barracuda partner
Veeam partner
N-Able partner