New redundancy law 'breaking EU code'

New employment regulations set to be agreed by MPs later today could see the Government facing a fresh challenge in the European Court.

The TUC says that MPs are being asked to give the go-ahead to regulations which will reduce employees' consultation rights when employers are putting through redundancies. The new regulations will leave 96 per cent of redundancies without any consultation with the workforce, the TUC says..

In June 1994 the European Court ruled that UK law was deficient because it restricted consultation rights to companies that recognised trade unions.

The TUC general secretary, John Monks, said he believed that the proposed new regulations, far from following the lead of the court, could lead to further confrontation.

"We thought the European Court judgment would lead to a straightforward extension of consultation rights to all workplaces - something we would have welcomed.

"Instead the Government has taken the opportunity to have another go at reducing the rights of employees. It is no wonder that job insecurity has grown to such an extent that it is holding back economic growth and prosperity."

The proposals will exempt employers from consultation when they are making less than 20 employees redundant over a 90-day period.

That, says the TUC, would undermine established industrial relations and falls short of the requirements of the European Court ruling.