All the signs point to P&O breaking employment law – despite company bluster

The TUC has today (Wednesday) hit back at P&O claims that they complied with the law when sacking 800 of their staff last week.

The TUC point to the company’s failure to consult with staff before the mass sacking – a fact P&O admitted in its letter to government yesterday.

Employers are required by law to inform and consult employee representatives of impending redundancies. This gives worker representatives the opportunity to explore alternative approaches.

Successive Conservative and coalition governments have reduced the consultation period for large-scale redundancies to 45 days.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“For all their bluster and denial, all the signs point to P&O breaking the law.

“UK law requires companies to consult with workers and unions before making redundancies. In their letter to ministers last night, the company are clear that they did not do this.

“At every turn, P&O is outdoing itself with its shameful behaviour. It’s time for P&O to come clean – and to reinstate all sacked staff.

“And the government needs to hit P&O in the pockets.

“Ministers must suspend all of P&O’s licenses immediately and cancel its lucrative freeport contracts until all workers have been reinstated.

“And there can be no more kowtowing to bad bosses. The Chancellor must use his statement today to make clear that not a single penny of taxpayers’ money should be given to companies that trample over workers’ rights.”

The TUC says the government must be prepared take over P&O vessels as an operator of last resort and re-instate all 800 sacked staff.

In addition, the union body says ministers must bring forward an employment bill to:

• End fire and rehire style practices and stop companies firing at will: P&O has exploited many of the same weaknesses in the law as companies using the punitive fire and rehire tactics. TUC research published during the pandemic revealed that 1 in 11 (9%) of workers have been forced to re-apply for their jobs on inferior terms and conditions. The law should state that no notices of dismissal can be given until consultation has been completed. Employees should be given protection from unfair dismissal from day one in the job.
• Increase penalties on companies that break employment law: P&O’s failure to consult staff on their redundancies appears unlawful. But companies who flout employment law  can get away with offering staff measly compensation and are rarely punished in the courts.
• Ban other forms of exploitative practices: More than one million workers in the UK are employed on zero-hours contracts and thousands of others are employed in bogus self- employment. The TUC says zero-hours contracts and umbrella companies should be banned.