Originally Posted by
Greig Whitton
We absolutely need simpler, less onerous rules - particularly with respect to our labour laws. But that does not mean that all regulations are bad. And when it comes to dismissal situations, I don't think that our laws are particularly complex:
1. Don't fire someone unless you have a fair reason (e.g. poor performance, incapacity, misconduct, operational requirements).
2. Before you fire someone, explore alternatives to dismissal and give the affected employee an opportunity to respond to your reason for firing them.
You don't need to be a labour law "guru" to get to grips with this. I've sat down with clients and explained it to them in half an hour or less. I've written plain English business guides that require less than an hour to read and apply.
Part of the problem is that many small business owners don't want to learn, or assume that it is a lot more complex than it really is. They want the freedom to do as they please. And in some respects, they do deserve more freedom. But dismissal is not one of those situations. You can't have business owners (irrespective of the size of their company) firing people on a whim. It would lead to exactly the sort of exploitation that labour brokering has been used for (not, of course, to suggest that all labour brokers or their clients are exploitative).
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