November 23, 2011

Fiddling while Rome Burns

Interviewer questions:

1. What evidence is there that businesses aren't taking on staff because they are worried about Tribunals? Silence.

2. Aren't businesses more worried about the dreadful state of the economy? "We are not for a minute trying to suggest that the economy is not a cause for concern".

3. What is the big plan then?  "Well, we will allow businesses to have "adult conversations" (?!) with under performing staff without risking ending up in a Tribunal".

4. Isn't it the worst time to be making employees fear for their job security? Won't it just hammer confidence and stop them spending? "We don't want to make anyone fearful for their jobs".

It now transpires that in a BIS survey of small companies, concerns about employment tribunals came 6th! - well behind the obvious problems of the depressed economy, low bank lending and so on. But no need to worry any more because seemingly "conciliation" will sort out all workplace ills with no need for "bureaucratic and expensive" tribunals.

And finally..... when can we expect a government spokesman to tell us how Germany and France manage to have economies which are far more resilient to the global recession than ours - with far more robust employee protection rights?

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Memo to Nero - get some growth back asap!!

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