"Get shares and become owners of the company you work for. Owners, workers and the taxman, all in it together. Workers of the world unite." declared the chancellor, George Orbourne.
From April next year, companies will be able to offer existing staff between £2,000 and £50,000 in tax-free shares if they surrender their rights to claim unfair dismissal, to redundancy pay, to request flexible working and time off for training. Women on maternity leave would have to give 16 weeks' notice of returning to work, rather than eight weeks as at present. Workers who gave up their employment rights would not be able to change their minds and exercise them in future unless their employer agreed. Companies ill be permitted to make such contracts compulsory for new recruits and new firms set up can make it a condition of employment.
Legislation to bring in the new-type contracts will come in later this year, with companies able to use them from April.
Osborne's plan is a variation of a proposal recommended to Downing Street by Adrian Beecroft, the venture capitalist and Conservative Party donor, whose idea of allowing firms to "fire at will" without fear of an unfair dismissal claim was blocked by the Liberal Democrats. But Nick Clegg's party now supports the revised proposal because it is voluntary. "New firms could make such contracts compulsory. People working for existing firms could not be forced to sign them – but new recruits could be made to..." Clearly the LibDem definition of "voluntary" is very different to the dictionary's.
SOYMB doubts employees will be offered any meaningful percentage of shares. If they were, they could vote at shareholders' meetings for directors that supported their interests. We suspect that the number of shares offered will only be a token amount. The proposal is simply deregulation of the labour market through the back door, an arrangement to circumvent labour market laws. It is a fake carrot, and we can expect the stick in the near future.
Workers cannot have an interest in their own exploitation, any more than turkeys can have in voting for Xmas. All profit is made off the backs of the workforce.
From April next year, companies will be able to offer existing staff between £2,000 and £50,000 in tax-free shares if they surrender their rights to claim unfair dismissal, to redundancy pay, to request flexible working and time off for training. Women on maternity leave would have to give 16 weeks' notice of returning to work, rather than eight weeks as at present. Workers who gave up their employment rights would not be able to change their minds and exercise them in future unless their employer agreed. Companies ill be permitted to make such contracts compulsory for new recruits and new firms set up can make it a condition of employment.
Legislation to bring in the new-type contracts will come in later this year, with companies able to use them from April.
Osborne's plan is a variation of a proposal recommended to Downing Street by Adrian Beecroft, the venture capitalist and Conservative Party donor, whose idea of allowing firms to "fire at will" without fear of an unfair dismissal claim was blocked by the Liberal Democrats. But Nick Clegg's party now supports the revised proposal because it is voluntary. "New firms could make such contracts compulsory. People working for existing firms could not be forced to sign them – but new recruits could be made to..." Clearly the LibDem definition of "voluntary" is very different to the dictionary's.
SOYMB doubts employees will be offered any meaningful percentage of shares. If they were, they could vote at shareholders' meetings for directors that supported their interests. We suspect that the number of shares offered will only be a token amount. The proposal is simply deregulation of the labour market through the back door, an arrangement to circumvent labour market laws. It is a fake carrot, and we can expect the stick in the near future.
Workers cannot have an interest in their own exploitation, any more than turkeys can have in voting for Xmas. All profit is made off the backs of the workforce.
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