Yes. For now.
After several high-profile cases, the practice of fire and rehire has recently received widespread negative press coverage. These include the dismissal of almost 800 employees by P&O Ferries in 2022 to be replaced by lower-paid agency staff, and a case where Tesco (unsuccessfully) sought to use the practice to overturn preferential pay rates it had agreed on a ‘permanent’ basis with staff who agreed to relocate.
In the Employment Rights Bill, the government plans to ‘end unscrupulous fire and rehire and fire and replace’ practices by considering any dismissals for failing to agree to a change in the contract as automatically unfair, except where businesses genuinely have no alternative.
The government’s consultation on strengthening remedies against what it described as ‘the scourge of fire and rehire’, ended on 2nd December 2024.
The statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement (Code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement issued by the Secretary of State under section 203 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 – the Code) introduced in July 2024, remains in force, although it may be replaced with a more stringent code.
Legislation (The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amendment of Schedule A2) Order 2024) came into force on 20th January 2025, which means if a claim for a protective award for failure to inform and consult on collective redundancies in a ‘fire and re-hire’ situation succeeds, an employment tribunal can increase the award by up to 25% if the employer has unreasonably failed to comply with the Code or another applicable code of practice.
