Government leaves Acas to fix fire and rehire. Its just-released guidance will be ignored by bad employers

Unions say legislation is needed to prevent employers imposing new contracts with lesser terms on their workers, and even Boris Johnson has criticised fire and rehire practices. Trouble is, his government talked out a private members bill that would have curbed it, writes James Moore

Clarks and Community are in dispute over what the union says is an example of fire and rehire (Getty)

It is emblematic of the current administration’s approach to workplace issues that its response to an epidemic of fire and rehire tactics by employers has been to outsource the issue to Acas.

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has just released what it calls “advice to help employers avoid fire and rehire practices” at the request of the government. It follows the publication of the result of a fact-finding exercise back in June.

Now Acas is an admirable organisation that does fine work. But it isn’t hard to see the problem with its headline right from the outset. Companies oughtn’t to need “advice to avoid fire and rehire practices”. They simply shouldn’t do it.