Fire and Rehire

Neil Todd, leading trade union law expert and Partner at Thompsons Solicitors and Carolyn Jones, Senior Vice President of the Institute of Employment Rights (IER), join us for the third episode of Working Life.

In this episode, we revisit the detrimental practice of fire and rehire and examine where the Employment Rights Act 2025 ultimately landed after the government's initial pledge to ban the practice outright.

We explore where the Act strengthens protections for workers facing attempts to erode their terms and conditions through dismissal and re-engagement, and whether it goes far enough to prevent employers from exploiting potential loopholes. Neil unpacks the new provisions, explaining which contractual changes are covered, the circumstances in which employers may still rely on statutory exceptions, and whether tribunal remedies will provide a sufficient deterrent against unlawful practices.

Drawing on lessons from the P&O Ferries dismissals in 2022, we ask whether the new framework will genuinely end the misuse of fire and rehire, or simply reshape the calculations some employers may make when considering it.

Chapters:

00:00:06 Introduction

00:01:48 Changes made by the Employment Rights Act 2025

00:04:08 Does the Act address the P&O scenario?

00:06:07 How the Act’s initial provisions were weakened

00:07:47 The Government’s consultation process on fire and rehire and restricted variations

00:11:23 The ‘financial difficulties’ exemption

00:15:01 Remedies and interim relief