Councillors call for fire and rehire rethink

About 150 staff members at Worcestershire County Council will be affected

Labour and Lib Dem councillors have said attempts to fire and rehire staff are “damaging the reputation” of Worcestershire County Council.

They have called for the authority’s Conservative cabinet to reverse its decision to press on with the controversial employment practice.

About 150 council employees will be dismissed from their current 37 hour contracts in October and rehired on 35 hour contracts.

The council has previously said: "We have been in dialogue with staff affected by the proposed change and the council’s recognised trade unions."

A motion being brought before a meeting of the council on Thursday calls for cabinet to reconsider and “seek alternative options to reduce expenditure”.

The motion said: “Council views with alarm the proposal to end the contracts of up to 150 experienced employees.

“These long-serving staff have not failed at their jobs. They are to be fired because they were contracted by Worcestershire County Council in the past to work 37 hours per week.

“This fire and rehire process is damaging the reputation of the council as an employer, and affecting the morale and productivity of all staff.

“It is having a detrimental impact on the skills shortages and difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff within some of our services.”

The government previously announced in its Employment Rights Bill that it would seek to ban fire and rehire, with a draft of the bill expected later this year.

Workforce 'disparity'

Unison, the public service union, has previously described the process as “obscene” and said it amounted to a 5% pay cut for some of the county council’s longest-serving members of staff.

A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council referred the Local Democracy Reporting Service to a previous statement on the subject of fire and rehire.

It said: “This small cohort of staff, less than 6% our workforce, remain working 37 hours in what is deemed to be a 35 hour non-exempt post which has resulted in the disparity across the workforce.

“We have been in dialogue with staff affected by the proposed change and the council’s recognised trade unions, both prior to and throughout the process in accordance with the council’s policies."