On 23 November 2011, Business Secretary Vince Cable gave a speech at the Engineering Employers' Federation in London outlining the coalition government's plans for employment law reform. On the same day, it set out its written response to the Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation, containing further details of many of the proposals, and two "calls for evidence": one on possible reforms to collective redundancy consultation, and one on simplifying TUPE. 

Summary of proposals

The speech set out the following plans:

• Requiring complaints to be submitted to Acas for pre-claim conciliation before a tribunal claim can be issued.

• Introducing "protected conversations" to allow employers to raise workplace issues "in an open way, free from the worry it will be used as evidence in... tribunal".

• Simplifying compromise agreements.

• Creating a "rapid resolution scheme" as a quicker and cheaper alternative to tribunal for "more straightforward matters" such as holiday pay disputes.

• A "root and branch" review of tribunal rules to be led by Mr Justice Underhill.

• Different fees for different types of tribunal claims, possibly with a higher fee for claims worth more than £30,000. A consultation on fees will be published shortly.

• "Closing the loophole" in whistleblowing law whereby a complaint about a breach of the employment contract can count as a qualifying disclosure.

• Doubling the unfair dismissal qualifying period to two years, "to give greater confidence to employers in recruiting new employees, without undermining workers' sense of job security".

• Improving CRB checks by making them instantly accessible online.

• "Simplifying and streamlining" the UK's recruitment sector by addressing unnecessarily complex rules on employment businesses and agencies.

• Reviewing the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 in 18 months' time.

• Simplifying the 17 pieces of National Minimum Wage legislation into one set of regulations.

• Responding next year to Dame Carol Black's review of sickness absence.
  

• Extending the right to request flexible working to everyone.

• A more modern system of parental leave that reflects the greater involvement of fathers in childcare.

Calls for evidence on other issues

Dr Cable also said that the government will be calling for evidence (in other words, seeking views) on a number of other ideas:

• The possibility of reducing collective redundancy consultation periods from 90 days to 60, 45 or 30 days.

• Simplifying TUPE, which may "unnecessarily gold-plate" the Acquired Rights Directive.

• Introducing "compensated no-fault dismissals" for micro-businesses - those with 10 or fewer employees.

• "Radically slimming down" dismissal procedures, potentially by changing the Acas Code of Practice.