Advertisement
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: Just £9.99 for the next 8 weeks
SUBSCRIBE
Employment

'Fire and rehire' tactics used on 1 in 10 workers, says TUC

The TUC said 'fire and rehire' tactics were 'plain wrong' and called for the practice to be outlawed

‘Fire and rehire’ has become more widespread, the TUC has claimed

‘Fire and rehire’ has become more widespread in workplaces, the TUC has claimed. Image credit: Jannonivergall / Pixabay

Increasing numbers of workers are being told to re-apply for their jobs on lesser terms or face the sack, new polling by the TUC has found. 

The union claimed so-called “fire and rehire” tactics were becoming “widespread” during the pandemic, with nearly one in ten workers affected since March. 

This number goes up to almost one in five (18 per cent) for employees between 18 and 24, and BAME workers are allegedly twice as likely to be subject to similar tactics than their white counterparts.

Lockdowns have taken income away from hundreds of Big Issue sellers. Support The Big Issue and our vendors by signing up for a subscription.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the practice of fire and rehire was “plain wrong” and called for it to be banned. 

“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect at work. Forcing people to re-apply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions is plain wrong,” she said. 

Advertisement
Advertisement

“Fire and re-hire tactics have no place in modern Britain and must be outlawed.” 

It comes after thousands of British Gas employees walked out over similar “threats” by the energy giant. Parent company Centrica insisted it is trying to protect jobs in a challenging market. 

British Gas engineers told the Big Issue of the “living nightmare” of going on strike after being asked to accept changes which workers claimed would “take money off them”. 

Bill Hawthorne, a British Gas engineer from Fife, said the changes to his working conditions could see him lose between £8,000 and £15,000 a year. 

According to the new polling, 24 per cent of workers said their working terms, including pay or hours, had been downgraded since first national lockdown in March. Nine per cent had been told to re-apply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions.

Advertisement

The TUC said this picture became even “bleaker” for those who are young, working-class, or from an ethnic minority background. 

Around 38 per cent of workers polled said they were also worried about job security in the year ahead. 

Boris Johnson promised “the largest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation” during the 2019 general election campaign, with a bill expected later this year. 

O’Grady said the Government must deliver on this pledge to protect employees, adding: “Boris Johnson promised to make the UK the best place in the world to work in. It’s high time he delivered on this promise. 

“That means fast-tracking his much-delayed employment bill. And it means abandoning any attempt to water down hard-won workers’ rights from the EU.” 

Advertisement

The Big Issue is committed to helping keep the UK in their jobs and in their homes through the pandemic and beyond. Register for our jobs and training programme to get free training, regular careers advice and access to hundreds of thousands of job listings. Sign up here.

Advertisement

Buy a Big Issue Vendor Support Kit

This Christmas, give a Big Issue vendor the tools to keep themselves warm, dry, fed, earning and progressing.

Recommended for you

View all
People with disabilities and ill health more likely to leave work, study finds – the DWP must fix this
dwp
Work

People with disabilities and ill health more likely to leave work, study finds – the DWP must fix this

Last Christmas I was in prison. This year I'm working in a London fine-dining restaurant
Christmas

Last Christmas I was in prison. This year I'm working in a London fine-dining restaurant

Get Britain Working: What are Labour's plans for the DWP, benefits and employment support?
Stock image of a Job Centre Plus sign
Department for Work and Pensions

Get Britain Working: What are Labour's plans for the DWP, benefits and employment support?

Unemployment has risen while pay growth slows as experts warn of ‘cooling’ jobs market
Stock photo of UK bank notes and coins
Employment

Unemployment has risen while pay growth slows as experts warn of ‘cooling’ jobs market

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know